The Going's On: Royalty is a Pain
by ChloeRhiannonX
Summary: The war has left some ever lasting damadge on some people...But it was the news that a certian girl recieved before the war that kicks off her adventure into the world. Can she cope? Or will she crumble with her new role in life?
1. Answers

_**1-Answers**_

The slow beeping of the heart machine was the only noise in the room. No one spoke a word, only kept thier eyes fixed on the girl in the hospital bed.

Courtney was still unconcious. It had been a full week and no improvment on her condition. The nurses had her hooked up to life machine. It was the only thing keep her breathing through the nights.

"Maybe we should just let her go..." Leah suggested, resting her head on her uncles shoulder. Nigel and Duncan had stayed with Courtney for the full week, only moving to use the bathroom facilitys.

"I'd rather not." Duncan whispered in reply, seeing Nigel upset enough as it was. Leah wasn't good at subtleness. She wasn't afraid to hurt others feelings, and never thought before she opened her mouth.

"She been out for a week." Taylor said, wrapping her arms around Duncan's waist. She rarely showed any affection towards her couisn, but this was a special case. Duncan and Nigel needed all the support they could get from family and friends.

"Shouldn't make a difference, should it?" Nigel whispered.

"Uncle Nigel, we just want what's best for Courtney." Leah said, sliding her hand into her uncle's. She wanted Courtney alive as much as the next person, but there was very little chance for survival. She was supposed to be dead, but no one had told the hospital that.

"You can't hold onto her forever." Trent mumbled, not meaning it in a bad way, but hoping that Duncan would understand. He hated seeing everyone so upset, so depressed. But he doubted it would get any better if Courtney was gone, either.

"We do not want to hold on forever, just until it's her time to go." Arianna spoke up for the first time in days. "But it is not now." She had also stayed by Courtney's side for most of the week, but the Princess was on a tight schedule. She had long changed back to her Princessy ways, with puffy dresses and her tiara on her head. When she had first been at the hospital, no one had recognizd her all dressed up. She looked completely different.

"When it's your time to go, it's your time to go." Trent told Arianna.

"And, like I said, it is not now." Arianna's eyes were slightly misty through the pushed back tears. She hadn;t known Courtney for very long, and, in the little time they had been together, they had fought a lot. All Arianna wanted was a chance to get to know her cousin a bit better. Her cousin, her only remaining blood relative...If Courtney died, Arianna would truely be orphaned.

"Where am I?" A tiny voice asked. Everyone's eyes moved to Courtney, she was still lying down, but was staring up at the bleached white ceiling. Duncan was the first to pull his girlfriend into a hug. Nigel was next, not even waiting for Duncan to move. Courtney was instantly squished between the two people who cared for her the most in the world.

"Where am I?" Courtney repeated, letting Duncan pull her up in bed, so she was sitting up right. Everyone had a big grin on thier faces, no one, and I mean no one, had expected her to survive.

"You're on the vampire ward at St. Maria's hospital." Duncan told her, trying to blink away the tears he had held back for so long.

"Why can't you let me die in peace?" Courtney asked, folding her arms across her chest. Of course she was joking, who would want to die?

"You're not dying anymore." Nigel told her, stroking her hand with his. Courtney looked at him as if he was an escaped mental patient.

"Didn't the rules say that if we win, I die?...Didn't we win?" Courtney asked, looking around everyone's faces. She knew she hadn't dreamt the whole thing up and was in hospital because she took a serious injury, right?

"Yes, we won." Taylor smiled at Courtney.

"You've broken this many rules, I don't think it matters if you break one more." Nigel told his daughter, kissing her head.

"What rules have I broken?" Courtney asked, starting to get even more confused than before.

"Hello, Miss Black." A nurse appeared at her beside, clipboard in hand. She had dark brown eyes and light brown hair. The nurse was wearing a white dress, with a red cross on the chest, and a white headband, with the same symbol in the middle. It was a standard nurse outfit to wear in the hospital. "I'm nurse Kelly,how are you feeling today?" She asked in her cheery voice.

"A little dizzy." Courtney replied. Nurse Kelly smile down at her clipboard as she flipped through the documents, presumably Courtney's notes.

"Yes, you may feel dizziness and, or sickness for a few hours." The kind nurse told her. Courtney nodded her head, but it didn't help the dizziness at all.

"What happened to me?" Courtney asked, wondering if anyone had told anyone else the truth about her.

"You collapsed due to low blood levels. We did almost lose you." Nurse Kelly did sound a little fightened, almost as if she knew Courtney well enough to not want her to die. "Luckily, you're friends brought you here straight away, otherwise we probably would have lost you." Courtney tried her best not to smile, smirk, giggle or laugh.

"Okay..." She mumbled, trying to show that she was thinking things over in her, spinning around in circles, head.

"Okay." Nurse Kelly repeated. "If you have any questions, please, let me know." The young nurse walked away with her clipbopard, leaving Courtney completely baffled about what was going on.

"Question number one." Courtney smiled. "Why am I on the vampire ward?" That had only just struck her. She wasn't a vampire, but Duncan had told her she was on the vapire ward.

"Because they don't have a living dead ward." Trent shurgged. Courtney couldn't tell if he was joking or being serious, so she just let it slide.

"Question two, what really happened?" Her mind was all hazy. Courtney was having trouble remembering what had gone on, on the battle field with the Trackers. That was why she didn't even know if they had won or not. That was why she needed the details from the people who were sitting at her, momentarily ago, death bed.

"We were all happy we won, next thing we know, you're on the floor." Leah said bluntly. She really wasn't good at expressing her emotions. "Luckily Kaly and Arianna saved you."

"Question three, going comepletely off the subject, what's an adapted power?"

"It's a power that someone has developed over time." Nigel told his daughter. "It's more common with humans who are around people with powers a lot. But, a person with powers can also develop a power if they are around a person who has that power for a very long time, why do you ask?"

"Just because I was unconious, it doesn't mean I couldn;t hear a word any of you were saying." Courtney replied, moving her eyes to Leah and narrowing them down sharply. Leah just smiled smugly at her cousin. "That would include Arianna arguing with you all."

"I like arguing." Arianna said, staring off into the distance, as if she wasn't in her body at all.

"My turn to ask a question." Duncan said.

"Go ahead." Courtney told him, wriggeling around in the bed, trying to get comfortable again.

"Princess A," Arianna snapped back to reality with the calling of her name, "before, when Courtney collapsed, what happened to you eyes?" Arianna then cast her eyes down at the floor. She had been hoping no one had noticed her eyes change in color, but, obviously, Duncan had.

"W-What do you mean?" Arianna whispered in reply. Nigel wrapped an arm around his niece's waist, making sure she was okay.

"Your eyes, they turned red." Duncan told her, not comforting her at all.

"The only time I've ever seen anything like that is with a vampire." Leah said, leaning forward and looking across Nigel's lap at Arianna.

"I can assure you, I am one hundred percent human." Arianna rold Leah, leaning forward and looking back at her. Nigel pushed both of his nieces back, not wanting a full out cat fight by Courtney's hospital bed. "Beacuse of my adapted power, my body finds it difficult to cope." The Princess sighed. "My emotions show through my eyes...When they are red, I am angry. When they are blue, I am upset. When they are black...It could meam anything. And, apparently, if they are pink, I am in love...But I have not come across that one yet."

"Seems reasonable to me." Courtney yawned. She had finally decided on the comfiest position; lying down. She shut her eyes and tried to drift off to sleep, she was completely knackered after a long day of, well, sleep.

A/N: You didn't honestly think that I'd kill my favorite character twice, did you? ;) LOL! That, however, does not mean I won't kill off a lesser favorite character ;)

I do hope you all liked this chapter :)

I tried my best on it to kick off season four...This one won't be like the rest...I think? LOL! I have no idea what I'm doing, do I?...LOL!

Thank you to those who revoewed on the final chappie :) That made my day :) Only...we were 4 short of 200...FOUR SHORT! How could you people do that to me? LOL! JK! I love you guys, really ;)

LOL!

Okay...I need to ask you guys a serious question. No joking for a moent, this is serious to me. Please, answer truthfully. Please.

Do you think I could become an author?

Thanks for reading, please review :)

Love, ChloeRhiannonX


	2. Out of There

_**2-Out Of There**_

Courtney had managed to get herself out of bed the day after she woke up. Everyone had long left her bed side, happy to know that she going to be okay, after all.

"You're looking more like a Princess." Courtney smiled at Arianna. The two had finally been left alone, after convincing Duncan and Nigel they needed a good, long, hot shower.

"Yes I am." Arianna smiled back. "I did not want to stay in what I was wearing. Unlike you, I quite like the dress." Courtney rolled her eyes and hit Arianna with one of the pillows from the bed.

"I don't want to look like a dork." Courtney smirked, letting Arianna hit her with the pillow in return. The two started laughing as if they had known each other for years. But, soon the laughter died down and it was back the seriousness of reality.

"Your dad and Duncan didn not leave your side." Arianna told her cousin. "They both love you very much." Courtney understood what Arianna was getting at. The Princess didn't have any family besides her, Courtney knew that. Arianna had missed out on so much whilst growing up. Courtney felt really bad for her. She may have lost her mother, but at least she still had her father. Arianna had no one.

"I know they do." Courtney replied. "And I love them, too."

The sun was at it's highest in the sky, but Courtney wasn't permitted to leave the hospital room she was being kept in. All she could do was stand beside the window, staring down at the grassy patch beneath the window.

"You're looking much better." Kaly said. Courtney turned around to face the council member. She couldn't smile. For some reason, Courtney was finding it harder and harder to express her emotions clearly around certain people, Kaly being one of them.

"I feel better, too." Courtney told her, turning back to face the window. In the distance Courtney could see her house. All she wanted to do was go home. The hospital was located behind the palace, along with many other houses and shops. This made Courtney wonder why she had thought Scarlatina had been so small, when it was actually a much larger place than she had known.

"Wjen are you being released?" Kaly asked. She had sat herself down on the hospiatl bed, and was mindlessly tracing patterns in the bed sheet.

"In about an hour." Courtney answered Kaly. "Right after my last check-up." However, Courtney didn't sound so thrilled about the idea. All she had wanted to do since she had woken up that morning was go home. She hated the hospital, it was like being trapped inside a maze. No where to run, but plenty of places to hide.

"Well, if you're perfectly fine, we can start practice right away." Kaly sounded a lot more cheery than Courtney did. Courtney turned to Kaly, confused. Practice what?

"Practicing for what?" The young girl asked, not leaving her spot at the window. Kaly, shocked, looked up to Courtney.

"Oh...I thought you had been told." Kaly said. Courtney was growing even more confused with every passing second. Told what? "Yopu'll have to ask your father or the Princess." Courtney went to respond, but Kaly disappeared on the spot.

"Hello." Arianna smiled, walking in the room. She had only left to go get some food. She had been with Courtney the whole day and was starting to feel peckish. "Was Kaly not just here?" She asked, confused slightly herself.

"What am I practicing for?" Courtney blurted out without thinking. Arianna was slightly caight off guard, but she knew exactly what her cousin was talking about.

"It is a race between you and I." Arianna told her, walking towards the widnow to be beside Courtney. "It is to see who will be Queen."

"I don't want to compete agaisnt you to see who's gonna be Queen." Courtney told Arianna, who smiled at Courtney. She knew Courtney wasn't going to want to compete. "You can be Queen, I have no interest in Royalty what-so-ever."

"It is too late." Arianna continued. Courtney graoned, as if she knew that was going to be the problem. The brunette teenager hit her head on the cold glass to cool off her head from all the frustration. "You know you are of Royal blood, you must compete in the race." Courtney groaned again. This time it was followed by a sigh, though.

"I hate my life." She whispered. "I don't want to do it." Courtney told her cousin again, turning to face her, head still pressed to the clear glass off the window. Arianna reached out a hand and stroked Courtney's moach locks, entangling them with her finger tips.

"Sorry, Courtney." Arianna whispered. "But it has all be decided. You are moving into the palace once you leave." Courtney groaned for the thrid time. It was the only way she could express her feelings of anger and upsetness. "It is not that bad, you will have me." Courtney sighed for the seocnd time. "But, we do have to start right away, Kaly's orders."

"You are the Princess!" Courtney yelled at Arianna. "You shouldn't take orders from Kaly." Arianna cast her eyes downwards. Courtney had hit a raw nerve with Arianna, one that shouldn't have been hit.

There was only one reason why Arianna took the orders from Kaly. It wasn't because she was top of the council, because royalty is higher than the council. It was because Kaly had been the one who has raised Arianna. The young girl had no family in Scarlatina, and the twon needed some sort of royal blood in side it's boarders. So, Kaly had riased Arianna to be the Princess, thinking that Courtney was never going to return to the town after her departure when she was a baby.

"I have to, Courtney." Arianna sounded like she was about to burst into tears at any given moment. "She is my guardian."

"Your guardian?" Courtney said. Now that she hadn't known.

"Yes, my mother died the same time yours did." Courtney slipped her hand into Ariann's. "I have never met my father...Leaving Kaly my guardian." Tears were now streaming down her face, her eyes bright blue like she had explained the previous night.

"Arianna, I'm so sorry." Courtney apologized, pulling her cousin in for a hug. "I had no idea."

"It is okay." Arianna told Courtney, pulling out of the hug and smiling sadly. Her eyes had turned back to their normal color, and she wiped away the tear drops from her cheeks. "Not many people do not know." Arianna took in a deep breath It was hard for her. "I do not remember my mother...I wish I did, but I do not."

"It's okay, Arianna." It was Courtney's turn to stroke Arianna's hair. "I don't remember my mom, either." Arianna shrugged.

"So? You've got your father, I do not."

"You have me, you have my dad and you have Kaly and Layona, too." Courtney told her. "That's plenty of people who care deeply about you, Arianna."

"I want to show you something." Arianna said, her eyes tinting blue again. She stood up staright and ran her hands over her dress, smoothing out the imaginary creases. Arianna held her hand out and Courtney took it.

The two girls left the hospital room, hand-in-hand. Arianna took Courtney down a long corridor, before turning the corner and making her way through a maze of smaller ones. The St. Maria's was a massive hospital, with eight floors an almost one hundred wings. Courtney would have easilt gotten lost, but Arianna seemed to know where she was going. At least Courtney hoped she did.

Arianna finally came to a stop. It was at the very end of the last corridor on the very top floor of the hospital. If they ahs gone any higher, they would have been on the roof.

At first, the corridor looked like the rest of them, but then Courtney saw what Arianna had wanted to show her. On the wall was a photgraph of two teenage girls. They couldn't have been much older than the two Princess' themselves.

They looked just like Courtney and Arianna, when Courtney took a closer look. The one on the left had dark brown hair, while the one on the right had bright blonde hair. They both had bright onyz eyes, that showed a lot of love and compassion. Their gleaming smiles radiated off the walls of the empty corridor, making Courtney feel safer than before.

The girl who looked like Courtney was wearing the red dress Arianna had given Courtney to wear the other day. She had on a layer of thick black eyeliner and masses of black lipstick over her lips, but she looked beautiful, never the less. The blonde girl was wearing the same dress, but in pure black. She had a completely natural look about her, which made her all the more beautiful herself.

Approaching the wall where it was hanging, Courtney read the writing below it.

_Princess' Courtney and Maria Reed, our founding creaters of St. Maria's hospital. The hospital was named after the Princess after she lost the race to her older sister, Princess Courtney. _

_This hospital is now in living memory of the girls, who died at age twnety due to a posion leakage into their blood streams. The two Princess' were the best Scarlatina had ever seen, no one will ever be able to replace them as Princess'. _

_They will be dearly missed, but, after everything they have done for the twon of Scarlatina, they shall forever live on in our memories and our hearts. _

_Love, live, smile, no regrets_

"That was their phrase." Arianna whispered. "Love...Live...Smile...No regrets." It was breaking Courtney's heart to see a photograph of her mother, yet know they were so far away. However, Courtney knew better than that. After being dead herself for four weeks, she knew how it all worked. Just by thinking of her mother, she knew she was by her side at that very moment. Then, as if on que, a cold shiver ran down her spine. She knew her mother was definitely there.

A/N: I'm in a depressed mood...Still...

IT'S FRIDAY!

That's the only decnet thing about it...

So, that is why this chapter may be slightly emotional with the heart-to-hearts...

Oh, I'm also addicted to Who Says by Selena Gomez...Wait for a oneshot that I will start writing as soon as I finish writing this.

And if I hear one more person say bangtidy, I may just SLAP them!

Thank you to;

Aaron'sInAMineField: Thanks...I explained that earlier...I just can't remember what I tolf you...

XxXYunocchi-chanXxX: Thank you :)

XxPurpleChickxX: Thanks :)

Panda Reaper: Yep...No faith... ;) Thank you :)

InstruMental: :) Thanks :)

sweetElisabeth: Thank you :)

pomtdwt: Thanks :)

CyD1224Izzy: Thank you :)

Sorry for the lack of effort in my replies...Just haven't got any 'LOL' and 'AHAHA' in me today...

Thank you to everyone who told me I could become an author...It means a lot ot me :) Thank you all :) I needed the encouragment...

Thanks for reading, please review

Chloe


	3. Let the Race Begin

_**3-Let The Race Begin**_

"Being Queen won't be too bad, will it?" Courtney asked, stopping herself from packing her bag for the hundreth time to question the matter.

"How should we know?" Taylor replied, pointing out that none of them had ever been Queen before. Courtneys ighed at zipped up her bag. She didn't have much to pack away, she was just glad to finally be leaving the hospital.

"I just need to talk about it." Courtney told her friends, jumping on the bed. Everyone gathered around, eagerly wanting to know what she had to say.

"It depends if you want to be Queen." Bridgette told her, sitting down crossed legged beside Courtney on the bed. Courtney looked at her, confused about what she meant. "If it'll be bad or not will depend on if you want to be Queen or not."

"I don't really wanna be Queen." Courtney told her friends, who could have guessed that already. Who would want to be Queen? It was a great responsibility to put on one person alone.

"Have you told Kaly that?" Leah asked, knowing that she hadn't. Courtney had talked to anyone but her friends and Arianna about being Queen. She didn't want to discuss it with her father or with Kaly. She had a feeling they were only going to force her into it one way or another.

"I've tried to tell her...But before I get to my main poin she rambles on about how it's my destiny to become Queen and some shit like that." Courtney trailed off, not wanting to replay it all in her head. If it wasn't for the race, Courtney would have ended up becoming Queen anyway. She was next in line since she was a week and a half older than Arianna.

"Maybe it's for the best." Geoff spoke up after contemplating over what to say to her. "Maybe you should be Queen." Everyon etsraed at him like he had lost his mind. "I think you'll make an excellent Queen."

"Try it..." Gwen told her. "If it doesn't work out, walk away." Courtney moaned through her teeth, she wasn't even in the mood to try it. All Courtney wanted to do was go back to the way her life had been before. Before everything she now knew existed in her mind. Being a normal teenager again was all Courtney wished for. Life a lot less complicated back then for her. Now she had everything on her shoulders, and felt like dropping it all.

The palace was just the way Courtney remembered it; fancy. Kaly had taken her from the hospital and back to the palace, showing her to her bedroom and giving her exactly six minutes to unpack her bags before training began.

Courtney was now sat on a windowseat in one of the downstairs rooms. It was a massive room, with plain white walls and wooden flooring. The only items were two desks, two chairs and a large cupboard that contianed everything the Princess' were going to need to learn how to become Queen.

"Now sit up striaght." Kaly told Courtney, balancing a book on her head. Courtney sat up straight and the book she had on her own head fell into her lap. She just couldn't the hook of balancing it. "Focus, Princess." Kaly muttered, placing the book back on top of Courtney's head, without dropping her own the whole time.

"I'm trying my best, Kaly." Courtney replied, getting angered at the fact that Kaly kept pushing her to do her best.

"What is so difficult about it?" Arianna asked. She had been pacing the room in circles and squares the whole time, balancing a much heavier book on her head. It was easy for her, she had been taught how to do it at a young age.

"You do this all the time, Arianna." Courtney pointed out. "What's the point of this anyway?"

"It teachesd good posture, now try again." Kaly said snappily. She was turning into a right bitch around Courtney and Courtney had no idea why she was doing it.

Courteny sighed at placed the book back on her head, only for it to fall off again. She picked it up and placed it back on her head.

"I DON'T SEE THE POINT!" She snapped.

"Just concentrate." Kaly told her, picking the book up off of her own head.

"Kaly." Arianna spoke up again, still walking around. "Why is Courtney not wearing a correct gown?" Courtney saw Arianna shoot her a nasty smirk behind Kaly's back. Courtney was shocked that Arianna was such a bitch, too.

"Why are you not in a proper gpwn, Princess?" Kaly asked, turning to Courtney. Courtney dropped the book onto her lap and looked up to Kaly.

"I have to wear a dress all the time?" Courtney asked, not wanting the answer to be yes.

"Yes." Arianna answerd, taking the book off her head. "Come along, we shall get you dressed." Courtney groaned into her palms. She was really starting to hate being a Princess, and it hadn't even been a full day yet.

Arianna took Courtney off to get dressed up in her mothers coronation gown again. Courtney had once loved that dress, but now she didn't shown any emotion about it what-so-ever.

"Why so grumpy?" Arianna asked as the two walked alone the garden path. "I thought you liked that dress."

"I do." Courtney replied. "I just don't want to have to wear it all the time." Arianna understood. The dresses were quite annoying sometimes.

"You can always wear the other one." Arianna teased, meaning the puffier red one that Courtney had first worn to the Land Of The Dead.

"Funny." Courtney snorted. "I want to be able to wear my normal clothes." Arianna nodded her head.

"You know you can't, though." Arianna told her and Courtney nodded her head in reply. She was not happy about being a Princess one bit.

The two girls stopped at took a seat on the bench that was situated about half-way between the gates and the palace. Courtneys ighed and looked down at her hands in her lap.

"When I was little, I used to dream of being a Princess." She smiled slightly. "But now I am one, I don't want to be." Arianna was the opposite of Courtney.

"When I was little, I wished I was a normal person. I haveve just had to accpet that, that will never happen." Courtney turned to Arianna, not wuite understanding. "I have been a Princess my whole life. I do not know what it is like to have a normal life, Courtney."

"Having a normal life is really good." Courtney replied. No matter how many times she may have complained about her life, she would have chosen it over being a Princess any day.

"I know." Arianna sighed. "You get friends, you get to date real boys, not Princes...You get to live the way you want to, not being told what you have to do in life." Courtney had never known how bad Arianna had, had it in life. She had always thought being a Princess would have been easy, you had the whole world at your feet. But it wasn't that simple, and Courtney was beginning to understand that.

"You've never had a boyfriend?" Courtney asked, realizing what Arianna had said. Arianna laughed at her cousins subtle move.

"No, never a had a boyfriend." Arianna told her, before looking down to the floor. "But, there is this one boy I like." A big smile spread across Courtney's lips.

"Is this guy Eric?" She asked, already knowing it was. Arianna's tanned cheeks flushed bright red with embarrassment. Courtney only continued to smile. "I think you two would be perfect together."

"Are you happy with Duncan?" Arianna asked out of curiosity, and wanting to change the subject off her. "You two seem to argue a lot." Courtney thought for a moment. The couple did argue a lot more than they probably should have, but they just loved to provoke each other.

"We do argue a lot." Courtney said, smiling down at her hands again. "But it's a hppy sort of arguing. We love each other and that's that." Arianna smileda t Courtney, wishing that she could have had a relationship like that.

"Courtney, there is something I have to tell you." Arianna whispered, the smile faded from her face. "And I don't think you're going to like it." Courtney sat up straight and looked at Arianna, but Arianna couldn't face her.

"What's wrong?" Courtney asked, seeing how upset Arianna was getting over whatever it was that she needed to tell Courtney.

"Please, do not get mad at me for this, because I have nothing to do with it." Courtney took Arianna's shaky hand in her own, as Arianna drew in a deep breath. "You are a Princess, you are not allowed to date a town's person like Duncan." Courtney narrowed her eyes, but not at Arianna, at the floor, at the person who created up that stupid rule.

"I will not, and am not, gonna break up with Duncan just so I can be a Princess. I WANT TO QUIT!" Courtney yelled and Arianna understood what she meant. Being a Princess was straining Courtney in one day as it had strained Arianna over eighteen years.

"I want you to quit, too." Arianna told Courtney. She didn't mean it in a nasty way, but Arianna had been training her whole life to become Queen, because no one ever thought that the 'missing' Princess would return. It was only right that Arianna was made Queen and not Courtney.

"No, you just want to beat me." Courtney smirked, giving Arianna a gentle push in a playful manner.

"Yes, so I am going to help you quit." Aruianna had a devillish gleam in her eye, one that Courtney knew was going to be trouble.

"How?" Courtney asked. "I've tried talking to Kaly."

"You have to show her you mean business." Arianna told Courtney.

"And how do I do that?" Courtney asked. Arianna smirked in reply, she had a plan.

A/N: ooooh...Plan? Tehehe -I'm getting closer to having my smiley's and 'LOL's back.

pomtdwt: I understand...I'm pretty effortless right now...and it's 3:15 PM...Thank you

XxYunocchi-chanXxX: Thanks

Aaron'sInAMineField: I pointed it out to you...Eventually...You were just looking for turle races, weren't you? It's not weird...Thank you

InstruMental: My enthusiasm is slowly coming back...Slowly...Thanks

XxPurpleChickxX: Thank you

You know, I know I can always count on the reviews you guys leave me to get me to smile. Even if they aren't mean to be funny, I find myself smiling and giggling at them for no reason at all. You guys, my AMAZING reviewers, just know how to cheer me up and make my day. Thank you to everyone who has ever reviewed my stories.

And now I have forty-nine words to watse so I can get this chapter up to two-thousand words ... So?... I am out of things to say, damn it! How many was that? Nope ... Still not there ... Not many words left now ... About ten to go ... Four more ... Now two ... I GOT TWO THOUSAND (and seven) WORDS!

Thanks for reading, please review

Love, ChloeRhiannonX


	4. Shut Out

_**4-Shut Out**_

"We're her friends, Kaly." Bridgette stated, folding her arms across her chest. The group were face-to-face with the councilor at the palace gates.

"I'M HER COUSIN!" Leah hissed, narrowing her eyes on Kaly. All the group were looking very pissed off.

"Princess Courtney is busy right now." Kaly told the group, attempting to turn her back on them, but they weren't haven't it.

"Doing what?" Gwen asked, seeing straight through Kaly as if she was a window.

"Important things!" Kaly snapped at the group. "Now, I am going to have to have to ask you to leave." Kaly finally turned her back on the group.

"What happened to you, Kaly?" Duncan asked. Kaly instantly stopped closing the gate and glanced over her shoulder subtley. "We win the war and you go back to being a bitch." Kaly slammed the gates shut behind her. Duncan had hurt her with his words, but there was nothing she could do about it.

"Come on guys, let's just leave it." Geoff told them. Everyone turned around and started walking back into the main part of Scarlatina again. They only wanted to see how Courtney was doing. But Kaly was just being difficult. She refused to let them see Courtney.

"Why can't we see Courtney?" Ellie asked. She was the youngest out of the group and was left out on most of the vital infomation. She didn't have a clue what was going on most of the time, so she was always asking questions to try and keep up.

"Kaly is being protective over her." Trent explained, slinging his arm over Ellie's shoulder. The two werewolves were very close, as Trent had taught Ellie everything she knew about being a werewolf. "She's acting like her mother."

"Yeah, acting..." Leah repeated. She hated Kaly with all her guts. Trying to 'replace' Courtney's mother wa the final straw for her.

Gwen reached into her pocket and pulled out a small device. It looked like a mini-cell phone, but it wasn't.

"Hey, Courtney just bleeped me." It was bleeper. One of the only means of communication in Scarlatina. Cell phone had no signal and there was no landline for phone calls. It was either letters or bleepers. "Sorry about Kaly." Gwen read aloud. "She won't let me breathe anymore without written consent. She won't let me do anything. I want to see you so badly, so I will have to sneak out later. Please meet me outside the palace. Please come see me, I am going crazy in here. Love, Courtney."

"Are we going to go meet her? Bridgette asked, eagerly awaiting the reply from someone.

"Of course, we are." Geoff told her, smiling dopwn at his over excited girlfriend.

"She doesn't want to be our friend." Taylor told them, not even giving Courtney a chance. Taylor was good at snap judegments of people, which usually ended up being wrong. However, she never admitted defeat to anyone.

"You think she's building false hope?" Duncan said, using his hands as weighing scales and asing one higher than the other. "I think you're stupid!" He snapped, hitting Taylor upside the head.

"That makes two of us." Taylor responded, only it came out differently in her head.

"So you agree. You. Are. STUPID!" Duncan teased, walking away from her. Taylor just stomped her foot on the floor like a two-year-old.

The sun went down and the moon came up, casting it's silvery glow over the twon of Scarlatina. The group of teenagers were all still up and outside the palace gates. They had snuck out of their own homes to meet up with thier friend who couldn't leave her own.

Courtney came running out of the gates in her red t-shirts and black shorts. It was her pajamas. The only pajamas Kaly had let her own.

"Do you want to get caught?" Leah snapped, gesturing to the loud squeaking of the gate.

"Sor-ry!" Courtney snapped back. "It is not my fault it squeaks."

"What are you wearing?" Taylor asked, holding her hand upt o her mouth to stop the laughter. Courtney looked down at her clothes.

"It is the leats princess-y thing I own." She said sadly. All Courtney wanted to do was wear her normal clothes again, but whenever she wore them through her powers, Kaly would zap them off as soon as they were on her.

"Isn't being a Princess supposed to be a good thing?" Bridgette asked, pouncing on her friend in a bone-crushing hug.

"It's not." Courtney replied bluntly after the hug was released. "I spent six hours today balancing a book on my head whilst watching Arianna showing off and Kaly loosing patience." Courtney was sounding very stressed out.

"Yeah, sounds like a good thing." Trent joked. Courtney completely ignored the last comment, because she jumped Duncan in a surprise hug. Duncan shut his eyes and tried to tune into Courtney's head.

"What's wrong?" He asked and Courtney was slightly shocked at first. They had never had a conversation telepathically before.

"I'm not allowed to date you." Courtney thought and Duncan heard it.

"Trust me, I know you're not." Duncan told her. "But that doesn't mean we have to listen." Courtney smiled and released Duncan from the hug.

"Like I would anyway." She spoke aloud, confusing everyone around her.

"Like you would what?" Ellie asked, feeling slightly left out on something again.

"Nothing." Courtney told her. "Nothing at all."

"So, you're gonna stick around here?" Gwen asked, knwoing the answer already. Courtney didn't want to stay, but she had no choice. Everyone knew that, that was clear enough.

"Like I have a choice." Courtney sighed. "But I'm working on it." A sly smirk crept across her lips as she thought of the plan Arianna had come up with.

"What are you up to?" Geoff asked, trying to figure it out from the look on her face.

"Well, first off I'm breaking all the rules and making sure I get caught." That didn't sound too much like Courtney, but it was what had to be done. "Then Arianna gave me the idea of throwing little tantrums which might get Kaly to throw me up because she is so sick of hearing me."

"So, you got it all under control?" Leah asked, eyebrow risen.

"Totally in control." Courtney confirmed with a confident nod.

"SHUT UP!" Arianna hissed as she came running down the garden and opened up the gate. "Oh, not you lot, this stupid fucking gate!"

"Tut, tut." Duncan shook his head at Arianna. "Princess' shouldn't swear." Arianna rolled her eyes and gave Duncan a playful punch to the arm.

"And I thought what Courtney was wearing was bad." Taylor smirked, trying to stop herself from laughing again by biting her bottom lip. Arianna was wearing a baggy black t-shirt and a blue skirt that completely revealed her stick thin legs.

"I didn't have much time to change, sprry to disappoint." Arianna hissed back at Taylor. She was quite angry when she wanted to be.

"You're not meant to be out here, whay are you out here?" Courtney asked in a hurry.

"I'm spying on you for Kaly." Arianna shrugged and Courtney rolled her eyes. Trust Kaly to send a spy.

"Well, this is perfect." Courtney sighed, as if upset about it, but she wasn't. "I am going to get in soo much trouble." The two Princess' high-fived. Courtney was going to get killed by Kaly when she gort back inside.

A/N: In a rush, not much to say. Should be in bed now.

G'night.

Talk to you tomorrow.

After I have a wicked game of monopoly ;) LOL!

Thank you to everyone who has been nice to me and concerned about why I have been not myself...It's complicated, let's just go with that. But I'm fine now :) Back to me old self :)

Thanks for reading, please review :)

Love, ChloeRhiannonX


	5. When Things Don't Work Out

_**5-When Things Don't Work Out**_

"I DON'T WANT TO COMPETE!" Courtney yelled at the top of her voice. She had put up with Kaly for a whole and still no improvments. "IT'S DRAWING A LINE BETWEEN ME AND MY FRIENDS!" That was true. All of Courtney's friends were starting to get fed up of not being able to see Courtney, so they were moving on to forgetting her. Of course, that mainly consisted of Leah and Taylor, who weren't too fond of her in the first place.

"There is nothing I can do about that, Princess." Kaly sighed. She was slightly getting fed up of all the arguing Courtney started. "You can not quit the race." Courtney's face was on the edge of exploding from the bright red shade of anger it already was.

"What do you mean 'Can't quit'?" Courtney screamed. "IT'S MY LIFE! I'LL MAKE THE DECISIONS!" Kaly looked up from her desk to Courtney, staring her deep in the eyes.

"You are a Princess, Courtney." Kaly told her. "Whether you like it or not, you are who you are." Courtney turned her head to hide the sadness in her eyes. "Now, go get dressed, you have classes to attend to." Courtney shook her head in disappointment. She had tried her best, she really had.

"What have you become?" Courtney shispered, walking out of the study and off to get dressed into her Princess dress. She had finally found a spell that would let her wear her own clothes, but it hadn't made much of a difference to Courtney.

"And Princess." Kaly called after her. Courtney stopped in the doorway, not turning around to face Kaly. "You are not to have any more secret meetings after hours with those towns people." A silent tear drop fell from Courtney's not-so-bright onyx eye. Kaly was sucking the life from her. "And that boyfriend of yours has to go." Courtney was all prepared to walk away without saying another word, but Kaly just had to bring up Duncan.

"NO!" Courtney yelled, turjning back to face Kaly. "I love Duncan more than anything in the world!" Tears were now pouring down her face as she gripped onto the doorframe to stop herself from slapping Kaly there and then. "I WILL NEVER LEAVE DUNACN! What's the worst you can do? Keep me here and I break the rules, or kick me out for not following the rules, but giving me what I want." Courtney shook her head. "You don't seem to have much of a choice." Kaly kept quiet. "I love my friends just as much, and nothing you say will ever stop me from seeing them."

"I did not want it coming to this, but I may have to have you watched to stop it from happening again." Courtney knew that watched didn't mean have someone follow her from a far. It meant having two manly body guards stand either side of her everywhere she went.

"Get me 'watched'." Courtney said, using her fingers to quote the word. "I don't care. I'm not your prisoner, Kaly. You are not my mother! And you're not Arianna's either. You have no control over us at all!"

"JUST GO GET DRESSED!" Kaly shouted, slamming her fists on the table. Her patience was running think with Courtney as the days passed by. She had been monitoring her from a far, but nothing was improving with her. Kaly had no idea what to do with the Princess.

Courtney ran from the room, crying her heart out. She attempted to make a dash for her bedroom, but she ran into Arianna on the way and, quite literally, knocked her off her feet.

"Ow." She cried out, rubbing her butt as she stood up. "Courtney? What's wrong?" She asked, finally seeing the tears running down her face. But, even without a word from Courtney, Arianna already knew.

Rain beat down on the side of the palace. It was a sad and depressing day for everyone. The usually sunny day had turned as sour as Arianna's mood. She may have been used to Kaly's torture, but she could see Courtney wasn't. Arianna was finally realizing what Kaly was truely like.

"I'm never going to see them again, am I?" Courtney asked, now dressed in her bright red dress. She was sitting in the very spot she had seen Arianna in when they had first met. Shje had her face pressed up against the window, watching the rain drops race each other down the glass.

"Yes you will." Ariann reassured her, although she didn't quite believe herself on that. "Kaly hasn't won yet." Even that was a lie. Kaly had won. She had gotten her own way and now Courtney was destroyed.

"It's over, Arianna." Courtney told her, removing her face from the glass. "Kaly has won, I have to compete."

"Not if I have anything to say about it." Arianna replied. Courtney was about to ask what she meant, but Arianna was already half-way out the room.

The blonde Princess marched straight back to the study, where Kaly still was, sorting through all her paperwork. Ariann barged right in and Kaly turned to face her with a glum face. It was a sad and depressing day for everyone.

"Kaly, we need to talk!" Arianna demanded. Her eyes were starting to tint red again. She was severely pissed off with the council member.

"Yes, Princess." Kaly yawned, tired from her busy day.

"I have known you since I was four weeks old." That was the time when Kaly had taken over with Layona as head council members. That was also the time when Maria and Courtney had died. "This horrible attitude of yours is the only one I have ever known, but, some how, Courtney saw the good side in you." Even Arianna knew Kaly had a good side, she had just never seen it though. "Now you have gone and disappointed her by showing off your true colors. She was crying earlier, Kaly, CRYING!" Arianna screamed the word out, making sure Kaly got the point. "But she was right, you don't have any control over her, you don't even have control over me! I'm eighteen, a leagal adult!" Kaly kept quiet, staring down at her desk in silence. "Courtney needs a person she can talk to right now. Adapting to this lifestyle is hard on her. With Uncle Nigel out of the coutry, she only has me. And I'm not that good at comforting people, becauase you have never comforted me in my life." Kaly shut her eyes, not making a move. "She needs a mother, Kaly. We both do. But, incase you haven't noticed, neither of us have got that. Our mothers died protecting Scarlatina, the place we all call home. Courtney did that, too! The least youc ould do is lighten up around her." Arianna's eyes softened a bit, but still had a faint red glow about them. "I don't care how horrible that makes you to me, I can handle it, but Courtney can't. Courtney is used to being around people who will listen to her when she talks, who won't shout and scream and tell her how to live her life. People she can trust..." Kaly looked up to Ariann, as if saying 'is that it?'. "People who will listen to her when she says she wants to quit!"

"Go back to your room, Princess." Kaly said, her voice a little hoarse.

"No." Kaly's eyes widened in shock and the disobediance from Arianna. "I don't take oreders from you anymore, Kaly. And neither does Courtney. So, if she wants to go out and see her friends, she can. You take orders from me. Just remember that."

"I think you'll find, Princess, that you do take orders from me, as well as Courtney." Arianna narrowed her eyes back down on Kaly. "Because I am in charge of both of you."

"And what do you think Uncle Nigel will have to say about that? Huh? He won't be too pleased, will he?" Arianna retorted, seeing how uneasy and edgy Kaly was getting.

"I said go back to your room..." Kaly whispered, her eyes not meeting Arianna's.

"And I said I don't take orders from you." Arianna countered, making Kaly lose her temper again.

"You really are pushing your luck, here." Kaly said, lifting her head up and narrowing her eyes down on Arianna.

"And what are you going to do?" Arianna asked. "Ground me? It's not like I can go anywhere, anyway. Take me out of the race? You wouldn't dare."

"JUST GO TO YOUR ROOM!" Kaly shouted, making Arianna jump slightly at the sudden raise of her voice.

"I'm going, but on my own terms." Ariann started walking back out of the room, but she stopped and peered over her shoulder. "Just remember, you don't own us, Kaly." Arianna continued walking, until she was far away from the study.

Kaly sighed angrily and sank back down into her chair, hands in her hair, She had no idea what to do with the Princess', they were getting too much for Kaly to handle.

A/N: So...The plan did not work for Courtney...

Well, Arianna had a good rant, though ;) hahaha

OMG! Shane Ward is so depressing...

And I have lost my cat...I left her in the kitchen and now she has GONE! VANISHED! I can't find her anywhere...

Thank you to;

Chapter Three-

Aaron'sInAMineField: No, of course there isn't ;) LOL! Thank you :)

CyD1224Izzy: :) Thanks :)

pomtdwt: Maybe she will...Maybe she won't ;) I know how you feel, I HATE shopping! Bleh! Hope you survived though ;) Thank you :)

InstruMental: I know, I'm always shocked when I get over a thousand, because I will always remember when I first started and I was onlyb writing, like, four hundred words a chapter ;) LOL! Thanks :)

XxXYunocchi-chanXxX: =O Hope you're feelinbg happier :) Thank you :)

Chibi Tamora-chan: Hey! Welcome to the site, and to my stories ;) LOL! =O! Hope everything's okay now between you two :) Thanks :)

sweetElisabeth: haha! Thank you :)

Chapter 4-

Aaron'sInAField: Who's gonna lose? WAIT! Don't say it, you already know ;) hehe! It's a funny word...Bleepers...Made that up on the spot, LOL! Thank you :)

Chibi Tamora-chan: Aww! Hope she gets better soon :) Thanks :)

InstruMental: hahaha! Aww! Thank you :) I do feel a lot more enusiastic today! LOL! Thank you :)

XxPurpleChickxX: Meh, the only reason I know where my charge is, is because I never unplug it from the wall ;) LOL! It's okay :) I understand :) Thanks :)

Whoo! We have 25 reviews already! I feel like we can make it to our target, yes? No? Probably not...Mainly because this story is only a short one, about 18 chappies long...Soo...We are a bit pushed for chapters ;) LOL! Don't worry, we can still try! LOL!

Thanks for reading, please review :)

I am off to find my cat...

Love, ChloeRhiannonX


	6. When Love Gets Complicated

_**6-When Love Gets Complicated**_

"Where's the pretty Princess dress?" Duncan asked, wrapping his arms around Courtney. "Kaly won't be very happy." He teased, but Courtney didn't even respond. She simply buried her head into his chest. Duncan instantly knew there was something wrong with her.

"Kaly isn't happy, full stop!" Courtney cried into Duncan's t-shirt. The spell was still working, so she could wear her own clothes. She sniffled a bit, upset about everything. "What did you want to talk about?"

This was the moment Duncan had been dreading. He knew it was going to happen sooner or later, ever since Courtney found out she was a Princess. Duncan hadn't wanted it to come to this, but it had.

"I love you." He whispered into her ear, holding her tightly to his chest. "But it's not going to work out between us, Court." Courtney didn't move. She didn't say a word. She stayed in Duncan's arms, letting the news sink in.

"You're breaking up with me?" Courtney questioned him, moving away alightly, just so she could see his face. Their arms stayed wrapped around each other, neither wanting to let go.

"It's the last thing I wanted to do." Duncan admitted, pushing a strand of silky hair behind Courtney's ear. "You can understand, right?" Courtney nodded her head, she understood perfectly.

"Yeah, it's for the best." She chocked out, trying to frocefully stop anymore tears from falling that week. Courtney felt as if crying was all she ever did now, she was so upset, she only ever cried.

Duncan pulled Courtney closer to him again, making her sob into his chest. He rocked her back and fore, whispering sweet things into her ear.

"Please don't cry." He told her. He hated watching her cry, it always broke him up inside. It made everything he loved, everything he cared about crush before his very eyes. He hated it.

Courtney pushed herself away from Duncan, wiping her eyes dry again. She also hated crying. It showed weakness. And Courtney Black was not weak.

"I have to go back." She told Duncan, turning her back on him an walking away. She didn't even say goodbye. And that hurt him. Hurting Courtney on ever hurt him more.

The sun had still not reappeard in the sky of Scarlatina. It was as if everyone was upset about something or other. A depressing cloud hung over the small down, not cheering anyone up.

Rebecca sighed, slumping her body into the chair. She had been going over all her wedding arrangments and realized that she had now lost a bridesmaid.

"If she can't come, she can't come." Rebecca said. "I'd like her to, but she may not be able to." Taylor fell into the seat beside her cousin.

"She can't come, Becca." Taylor told her. It was a fact that Courtney wasn't going to be attending the wedding. It was right after the winner would be announced for the race and Courtney would still be under Kaly's control at that point.

"That's okay." Rebecca smiled weakly, trying to hide the sadness in her hollow blue eyes. "Where's Duncan?" She asked, only then noticing she hadn't seen her brother all day. It was quite unusual fro him not be harrassing her fiancee by that time of day.

"He went to see Courtney earlier and they brpke up again." Phoebe sighed, sitting on the table between the two girls. Everyone could tell that they were just kidding themselves about staying together without being able to see each other. It was a stupid idea from the start. "Now he's lying in bed, staring up at the ceiling for no apparent reason."

"Poor Duncan." Rebecca mumbled, thinking about her brother. Rebecca ghad shared her fair share heartbreak over the many years she had been around, it had hurt her badly, so she knew how Duncan felt.

"His life isn't going too well recently." Taylor said, thinking back to everything that Duncan had been goping through. He was always locking himself away from all his friends and family. It was upsetting for them all to watch him in such a state.

"What can we do about it?" Phoebe asked, knowing there was nothing anyone could do fro Duncan at that point.

"I know what I'm gonna do." Taylor said, getting up from her chair and leaving the house. Phoebe and Rebecca didn't even question it, they knew they didn't want to know what Taylor was up to. No one ever wanted to know what Taylor was up to.

"Whatever you want, Taylor, make it quick." Courtney snapped. Kaly's sourness was rubbing off on her as she stood outside, shivering in the cold air that was hung in Scarlatina. "I can't afford to get into any more trouble."

"We managed to go a whole year without you, then another month." Taylor told Courtney, who already knew that. "I thinkwe can go on until you lose the race. Or, at least until it's over, anyway." Courtney moved her head to the side, looking out to Scarlatina as if it was never going to be her home again. "But not Duncan. Duncan's heart is broken because of what you're doing to him."

"He's the one who broke up with me." Courtney snapped at the vampire. She was fed up of being made out to be the bad guy in everything that happened with Duncan. It was always her fault as far as anyone was concerned.

"He only did it because he doesn't think he can live up to your expectations." Taylor fired back.

"What expectations?" Courtney asked. "I haven't got any."

"Trust me, we know you don't..." Taylor mumbed to herself. "You're better off with a Prince than a vampire, Court. That's all I'm saying." Taylor turned around to face Scarlatina and was gone before Courtney could blink.

It was very frustrating for the Princess to be caught up in the middle of everything. She wanted peace, not fighting between her and her friends. However, that wasn't going to happen. They all bated her as far as she was concerned.

Courtney shut the palace gates and walked back up to the main builiding. She was in an even worse mood than when she had left.

"Hey, Courtney." Eric greeted as Courtney walked in the kitchen in a huff. "I heard you and Duncan broke up...So I can to see if you were alright."

"You heard right." Courtney mumbled, opening up the refridgerator. Eric slid across the slippery floor till he was stood beside Courtney.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" He asked, placing a kind shoulder on her back as she slammed the door shut.

"Not that I can think off." Courtneyn told him, shrugging off his hand and walking to the other end of the kitchen. Eric sighed, not giving up on her, and followed. Courtney opened up the top cupboard, searching for comfort food.

"Are you sure?" Eric asked, moving even closer than before to her.

"I'm sure." She muttered, standing on her tip toes to see better. Courtney fell back onto the floor, flat on her feet. She turned to face Eric, not realizing how close that would have made them.

The Princess crashed his lips to hers, catching her off guard slightly. Courtney stumbled back a bit, pushing Eric off her. Her eye instantly set on the crying girl in the kitchen doorway.

"Arianna, I can explain." Courtney told her, seeing her usual onyx eyes bright blue with sadness.

"How could you, Courtney?" Arianna whispered, her voice seriously pained with emotion.

"Just let me explain-"

"I don't want to hear it!" Arianna yelled, running off, deep into the palacae to pour her heart out.

Courtney was left in the kicthen with Eric, feeling evern worse than she ever had before. Now everyone hated her. It was a good feeling to have haunting you.

The Hudson household wasn't much brighter than the palace. With a serious depression lingering in Scarlatina, no one was happy.

"One day you'll find that right girl." Rebecca told Duncan. The two were sat on Duncan's bed, with his head on Rebecca's shoulder. "The one that won't break your heart. The one who you'll want to stay with forever." Rebecca ran her fingers through Duncan's 'hawk. It was almost soothing to him, but it wasn't taking away the pain.

"I want to be with Courtney." Duncan of Courtney was just more strain on his alreading shattered heart. It had been brekaing and breaking, a little more everyday since Courtney left for the Tracking Academy. He never told anyone, but it hurt him badly.

"Well, Courtney can't be with you." Rebecca told Duncan. "What you need is a vampire girlfriend, one who you know you can stay with forever."

"I don't want another girlfriend." Duncan sighed. Rebecca was trying her best, but nothing was going to help Duncan this time. No matter how much comfort someone gave him, it was no comparison to Courtney.

"Give it time, Dunc." Rebecca sighed, running her hand back through Duncan's hair. "And you'll be ready to get back out there." Duncan thought for a moment, before sitting up properly and turning to Rebecca.

"What about your wedding?" He asked. "Come on, tell me what's happening." He just wanted to think of anything but Courtney at that point.

"Well...Nothing right now." Rebecca admitted to him. She wasn't helping a lot with taking his mind off of Courtney.

"You don't sound excited about it anymore." Duncan told her, noticing her change in tune about the whole thing.

"I am excited. I am happy. I'm going to be with the man I love forever." Rebecca smiled, staring down at the floor.

"Being with someone forever isn't always a good thing." Duncan told her, thinking about all the time he had wanted to spend with Courtney. Now they would never have that time back.

"I know it isn't." Rebecca told Duncan. "But this time it is." She smiled at him and he smiled weakly back. It was a fake smile, but he wanted to show Rebecca that he wasn't hurt anymore, even if he was.

A/N: Bleh...

This was quite depressing to write, mind. Everyone is so unhappy at the moment...and now Arianna wants to kill Courtney and Taylor wants to kill Courtney and I'm sure Leah and Kaly will wanna join into that, too...LOL!

Courtney's just hated right now...

OH! I found my cat...two hours later...She was curled up under the radiator in my parents bedroom...Little weird thing...LOL!

Thank you to;

Aaron'sInAMineField: NO! Plain and simple, NO! I will not kill Kaly. Thank you :)

mo: Ew...Nigel and Kaly...Together? EW! LOL! Thanks :)

pomtdwt: So did I...LOL! Thank you :)

XxYunocchi-chanXxX: LOL! Nice to see ya again :) Thanks :)

InstruMental: :) Wow...Never almost made someone cry before...LOL! Sorry...Not laughing at you...Lauging at my lack of emotion filled text ;) Yeah...I should...But all I have to do is blink and she's gone! LOL! Thank you :)

YAY!...Reviews...? Hmm...Where have they all gone?

LOL!

I'm really hungry now...

Can still taste my chicken baguette from lunch...

Can now smell something weird coming from the kitchen...

I must go investigate...

Thanks for reading, please review :)

Love, ChloeRhiannonX


	7. When Life Gets Harder

_**7-When Life Gets Harder**_

Nigel black bowed down before Princess Arianna. The young Princess curtsied back and the two took each others hands, starting to waltz around the ball room.

"There is no way I can do that." Courtney said, watching each step with care. Waltzing was one of the things Courtney had to 'master' to become Queen.

In the three weeks she had been at the palace, Courtney had just given up hope in ever escaping. Kaly was still a bitch, Arianna still hated her and her friends didn't want anything to do with her. It was too much for Courtney to handle, but she had to go through with it. She had given up on escaping, it wasn't going to happen and she just had to accept that.

"You've got to try." Eric told her, holding out his hand to her. Kaly had recruited Eric to help the girls. He was already promised the throne in the Land Of The Dead, who had a completely different way of working out the next King or Queen. But, he still wanted to help the two girls find out between them who was going to be the next Queen of Scarlatina.

Courtney sighed and reluctantly took Eric's hand in hers. She stood up and Eric spun her around in a circle, gently picking her up and standing her on his feet, like a father would to his young daughter.

"I'm never going to learn if you stand me on your toes, am I?" Courtney told him, but she didn't move. She didn't particualy feel like learning how to waltz, she just liked annoying Eric.

Eric stepped back and began twirling Courtney around the same way Nigel was waltzing with Arianna.

"So, what's going on with you and Courtney?" Nigel asked his niece, picking up on the tension between them as soon as he had arrived. He had gone back to Earth to do some personal things for himself. When he had got back, he could see how miserable everyone was, but no one could tell him why it was all so depressing in the once cheery town. The dark cloud was still hung in the air, as if never moving from above the twon.

"We are not talking." Arianna told her uncle, closing her eyes so she could not see him. The two stopped waltzing for a moment, before Arianna opened her eyes and Nigel started spinning her around again.

"Why not?" Nigel asked, but he could see the awkwardness it was causing his niece.

"Because...Because she knew I like Eric and she still went and kissed him in front of me!" Arianna snapped, more upset than angry. She was just glad that the ball room was big enough for Courtney and Eric not to hear her from the opposite side of the room.

"That doesn't sound like something Courtney would do." Nigel told Arianna. He knew that Courtney and Duncan had split up. Duncan was one of the first people he had seen on his return to town. "Have you talked to her about it?"

"No." Arianna whjispered, ashamed at what she had just blurted out to Nigel. "I saw it with my own eyes, I know what happened."

Nigel nodded his head, as if to say he understood, but he didn't have the first clue about teenage girls. The last teenage girls he had ever had to deal with had been the past Princess, Courtney and Maria. And there hadn't been much rivalry drama between those two.

"You could have the wrong idea about it." Nigel told Arianna, but she was in denial. To Arianna, Courtney was just a traitor who was trying to put Arianna off the competition. Arianna had been working towards becoming Queen since the day she was born. It was her destiney, but now Courtney was getting in her way.

"I doubt it." She sobbed, pushing back a tear. It was too hard on her, it had always been to hard for her, but she kept going through everyone that Kaly threw her way. But it was Courtney who had finally broken her, made her feel as if she had nothing to work for anymore. When all Courtney wanted to do was let Arianna win the competition. She wanted it all over and done with, that way she could possibly go back to her normal life.

The usual group were still hanging out in their spot; the fountain. It had become their spot as soon as they had all become friends in Scarlatina. It was the place they had all played around when they were young children. It was their spot.

"Have you guys seen my dad anywhere?" Courtney out of breath from running from the palace down into the center of town.

"Uh...No?" Bridgette replied, not used to seeing Courtney out of the palace walls. Courtney threw her hands over her face and moaned. She crossed her legs and fell to the ground, blowing a strand of hair from her face.

"Oh, okay then." She replied, trying to sound as casual as possible.

"Are you sure you can talk to us?" Gwen asked, seeing that Courtney's was not budging from her spot on the floor. Courtney thought for a moment, was she sure she could talk to them?

"No, but since I'm here I might aswell." She replied with a shrug. She had missed her friends and could tell that a few of them had missed her too.

"Why are you here?" Trent asked.

"Well, first I need to talk to my dad about something that may just give me a shot at a sort of normal life." Courtney told the group, who were quite interested in what would possibly give her a shot at a normal life. "Plus, it's a good way to stay away from Arianna who wants Kaly to have me killed. And I think Kaly may just let her get her own way, so...Yeah, far away from her."

"What's going on with you and Arianna?" Geoff asked, noticing how Courtney wanted to stay 'far away from her', along with the rest of the group.

"Well...Arianna likes Eric, but Eric likes me, and so she is blaming me for that!" Courtney practically yelled the last part, still pissed off that Arianna wouldn't listen to her. "And there a lot more to that, but I don't wanna go into the detail because I have blocked all that from my memory." Geoff smiled at Courtney, shaking his head. He had missed her just as much as the next person. Her random rambles were something anyone would miss.

"Why are you talking so fast?" Taylor asked, thinking she was acting even weirder than normal.

"Because I have no idea how long I have with you guys before I have to go again, so I am using up all my time now. I just want you guys to know that it really isn't my fault that I can't come see you and that I really do miss you all!" Courtney took in a deep breath, looking like she was about to pass out at any moment.

"So, what's this important stuff you have to talk about with uncle NIgel?" Leah asked, not giving anyone else a chance to tell Courtney they missed her too.

"It's a secret that I can't say just incase it's not true, and I don't wanna chance it. BUT, if it does work out, I may be able to beat Kaly at her own game." Courtney smirked quite evilly, thinking about how amazing it would be to finally beat Kaly.

Courtney had given up on ever finding a way around Kaly's mind tricks and stupid rules. That was until she was lying on her bed, thinking about her parents, when an idea hit her. It made her wonder why she had never thought of it before, but she just had to make sure it was true before she jumped into things.

"Does Kaly know you're here?" Ellie asked out of pure curiosity.

"Not exactly." Courtney admitted. "I told her I needed to talk to my dad, so she asked why couldn't I have talked to him this morning, so I said 'I'm going, bye' and then ran out the door and came here." Courtney finished her recount with a confident nod of her head.

"So, your life is going well." Bridgette said, smiling over at her best friend. Courtney smiled back, laughing to herself about how 'well' her life was going.

"Yep, my life is great." Courtney replied, lying down on the floor. "I am so tired." She blurted out, not really thinking about what she was saying anymore.

"Why?" Taylor wondered aloud. "What have you been up to?"

"A LOT!" Courtney told her, sitting back up. "I mean, this morning IO had to learnb how to waltz. WALTZ!" She repeated the word as if it was the most stupidest thing in the world. "Do you know how difficult that is? I'll tell you, FUCKING DIFFICLUT!"

"I would have paid to see that." Leah smirked, imagining it in her head.

"Yeah, it was really funny." Courtney told her with an eye roll added on the end. Courtney, despite the fact of hating the girl, had also missed Leah long with her friends. She may have been the most annoying girl she had ever met, but she loved her all the same.

"Looks like your dad's back." Geoff said, nodding towards the Black house, where Nigel was walking inside.

"Perfect!" Courttney smiled excitedly. "Well, I love you guys loads and will see you when I can. Bye." Courtney clicked her fingers and disappeared on the spot, reappearing a few feet away at the front door of the house. That was a trick Arianna had taught her, since she was always doing it to get around faster.

Taylor reached out to her side and whacked her couusin hard in the arm, squinting her eyes at him.

"You should have said something!" The angered vampire hissed at Duncan. She may not have thought that Courtney was the best choice for her cousin, but she was the one he wanted.

"Like what?" Duncan replied, turning to face Taylor.

"Like ANYTHING!" Taylor shouted at him, getting ready to slap him big time. He was so stupid sometimes, it was unbelievable.

Courtney settled herself into the old armchair in the corner of the room. She stared up at her father, who gave her a funny look back.

"Dad, can I ask you something?" Courtney questioned him after a two minute awkward silence. Nigel thought for a moment.

"Why are you here?" He asked back, not answering Courtney's question, but asking his own.

"I said I wanted to ask you something." She told him. Nigel stopped for another moment, before stepping over the back of the sofa and sitting himself down to have a serious talk with Courtney.

"Okay, ask away." He sighed, knowing it wasn't going to end well for one of them.

"Do you have any royal blood in you, at all?" She asked.

"I don't think I do, why?" He asked, although he already knew. He was just making sure that Courtney understood what that meant. He was all for her figuring things out forherself, rather than him tell her how to do it.

"But you still dated a Princess, right?" Courtney smiled weakly, hoping this conversation was going where she wanted it to go.

"Yeah, I did." Nigel smiled back, knowing she was grasping the concept now. "Where are you going with this?" He asked, seeing as she hadn't answered him before.

"So, if you datwed my mom, I should be allowed to date Duncan!" Courtney yelled, finally realizing her and Duncan had broke up for no reason at all. The rules never said what Kaly had said, she must have just made them up to get Courtney away from Duncan. Or so Courtney thought, anyway.

Nigel smiled at his daughter. He was proud that she was able to work things out on her own terms. She was a clever girl who always knew how to fix the bad situations she was always thrown into in life.

"I'm not the one you should be explaining that to." Nigel told her. "But if you need back up, tell Kaly to come tak to me." Courtney smiled and pounced on her father, engulfing him in a tight hug. She finally had a shot at a normal life again.

Quickly, she shot out of the Black household, back to the palace to find Kaly and rub the good news in her face. Courtney hadn't been so happy since the day she found out she was no longer dying.

A/N: Oooooh! What will Kaly have to say about this?

LOL!

;) Will she give in to the 'rule'? Or will she be able to stop it?

Ooooh! LOL!

You know, I love torturing Courtney in my stories, don't I?

I've seriously only now notcied that Courtney has been tortured in one way or another in EVERY one of my stories...LOL!

OMG! I have a terrible cold, I can't stop sneezing!

Grrr...

LOL!

OH! I also uploaded a oneshot yesterday called Baker's Dozen: Alternate Ending. If you've read Baker's Dozen, which I know a lot of you have, PLEASE read it :) I think it is really good and super funny! (Not me being big-headed, because I didn't wirte it ;D) LOL! So, please check it out :)

Thank you to;

XxPurpleChickxX: Yeah, I can too...LOL! Thank you :)

Aaron'sInAMineField: I know...Thanks :)

pomtdwt: I know, I'm quite cold too...LOL! Ah, good memory...LOL! We'll see what happens ;) Thank you :)

XxXYunocchi-and-TamoraXxX: Aw...Well, that sucks...I'd hate it if my mother threw away my laptop. I LOVE MY LAPTOP SOO MUCH! LOL! Thanks :)

(OMG! Bridgette-I'm Sorry has just come on my playlist! YAY!)

InstruMental: I know...I am a mean, mean person...But drama, right? LOL! ahahaha! That would be SO awesome! LOL! Thank you :)

(And it stopped...NOW THE THEME TUNE IS ON! WTF! That is just chance...)

CyD1224Izzy: I know...So upsetting...LOL! Thanks :)

sweetElisabeth: Yeah...She should have run away by now, why has she not run away? Hmm...Good question...LOL! Thank you :)

YAY! I feel loved because I have more reviews than usual :)

Please keep reviewing :) You guys make my day EVERYDAY!

LOL!

Thanks for reading, please review :)

OMG! This is my longest chapter for this story (Just thsi fourth one...I think?) so far! WOW!

Love, ChloeRhiannonX


	8. Shutting Up Kaly

_**8-Shutting Up Kaly **_

"Princess Courtney, this is unaccpetable!" Kaly shouted at the young girl. Courtney just placed her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes. She knew Kaly wasn't going to like her plan, but she was going to at least try it.

"So, my mother was alowed to break the rules, but I'm not?" She asked. Kaly froze at the mention of the previous Queen of Scarlatina. That was a touchy subject for her. She and Queen Courtney had once been close, but that hadn't lasted for too long. It had been a quick and sudden death, no warning's about it.

Kaly had also been the one to find the Queen in her bed. Courtney had been complaining of headaches and stomach pains, but no one had paid too much attention to her. Her husband put it down to too much stress from the baby, so he sent her to have some rest. When Kaly went to wake her, she wouldn't stir from her ever lasting sleep. It had devestated Kaly, but she had, had to stay strong for everyone else she was in charge of around the palace. i.e. The two younger Princess, Courtney and Arianna.

"It was different back then." Kaly told Courtney, rumaging through the bookcase in front of her. "For a start, I was not around when your parents started dating."

"Who was then?" Courtney asked, well, more demanded. "I want to talk to them!" Kaly sighed and rolled her eyes, still looking through all the books. The library was full to the brim with books, so it was hard for Kaly to find the right one she needed.

"Why can't you just follow the set rules, Princess?" Kaly asked. Courtney wasn't making her job any easier.

"Set rules?" Courtney questioned. "As in you created them?" She was smart. Too smart for Kaly, anyway. Kaly never would have thought that Courtney would have caught onto that part.

"That is not what I said." Kaly quickly replied, hoping that Courtney would just drop that conversation. Of course, she knew Courtney well enough to know that she never dropped out of a fight.

"But it's what you meant." Courtney retorted. "There is no dating rules, is there? You just don't like Duncan!" Kaly sighed, leaning her head forward and resting it on the shelves in front of her. The cold spines of the book didn't help too much to getb rid of the constant pain she had in her head from being around the two Princess' all day.

"That is not true." Kaly said, taking in a deep breath and turning to face Courtney again. She had to regain her composture some how. "No, I do not like Duncan, but there are rules about dating." Courtney squinted her eyes at Kaly, trying to catch her out on the lie. But there was nothing to catch out, because there were dating rules.

"Let me see this rule book." Courtney told Kaly, wanting to double check everything Kaly was doing was correct. Otherisw, Courtney was finally going to be free. Free from the deamon called Kaly.

Kaly sighed, holding her head in her right hand, whilst she clicked the fingers in her left. A book appeared, floating in mid-air, between the two girls. Courtney jumped back a little, shocked at the sudden appearing of the book.

"Good luck trying to read it." Kaly said, turning on her heel and leaving the library. Courtney was left wondering what Kaly had meant by that last line, but she didn't think too much of it. That was until she opened it up to the first page.

"Of course, it's in Scarla." Courtney sighed, slamming the book cloed. Scarla was the anicient language that had once been spoken in the town of Scarlatina, very few people knew how to speak it in modern days. Everyone in Scarlatina had addapted to speak English, so they would be able to belnd in easier when on Earth. "But I might know someone who can read this." Courtney smiled evilly, grabbing the book and running out of the library.

The sky had started to brighten up since yesterday. The part of town where the front of the gates were, was not looking so gray anymore. The massive cloud was lightening up slightly, almost to a different shade of gray. Still gray, but brighter than usual.

That patch also included the fountain, where our group of teenagers were, once again, hanging out. It was thier spot after all, they had the right to hand out there.

"Can you read this?" Courtney asked, shoving the book into Geoff's hands. If anyone would have been able to read it, it was Geoff. Geoff knew everything and anything about Scarlatina. It was what he was best at. That and medically treating injuries.

"Cute dress." He smirked, opening up the book to the first page as Courtney had done. Courtney looked funnily at him, not knowing what he meant. She then looked down to see she was now wearing the red dress that she loved so much.

"Kaly..." She mumbled under her breath, sounding as if she was going to kill her.

Courtney ran her hands over the dress, turning t back into her normal clothes as her finger tips touched the clothed material. She shook her head and removed the shiny tiara, throwing it into the fountain.

"Yeah, I can read this." Geoff told Courtney, turning over to the next page. "Why?" He asked, not quite knowing what the book itself was.

"Can you read it to me, please?" Courtney asked, sitting down on the fountain beside Geoff as she kicked of her heeled shoes. Sneakers were one of the few clothe items that Courtney didn't know how to work onto her body in a spell, so she was stuck with the heels she could barely walk in.

"Give me a minute..." Geoff muttered without thinking, he was too wrapped up in reading the book himself first. It was quite interesting learning about how royalty works.

"You know, you're outfits get weirder and weirder." Taylor told Courtney, swimming her hand in the fountain and brushing it against the tiara. Courtney just rolled her eyes, Taylor always loved to comment on anything about Courtney that was out of the ordinary.

Gwen moved so she was sitting on the other side of Geoff on the fountain edge. She lifted up the book cover and read it aloud.

"Achi madda solo." She said, tilring her head to get a better view.

"In English?" Courtney asked, not understanding a word of Scarla herself. It was just something she had never needed to learn, since she had been raised on Earth and her father had never spoken it before, in front of her, anyway.

"Royal Rule Book." Gwen told her, letting the book cover fall back into Geoff's muscular hand.

"So, I've got the right book, that's a start." Courtney said, happy that it wasn't some bogus joke from Kaly. If it had been, well, Courtney might just have killed her next time the two girls had met.

"Why have you got this book?" Leah asked, not really understanding what Courtney was get at with all the rules. As far as the rest knew, she was still trying to get away from them.

"Well, I tricked Kaly into telling me that the rules are set, so I questioned her about them all, but she wouldn't tell me. In stead, she gave me this book, but it's in Scarla, so I can't read it." Courtney explained, chnaging the dating ruke to all, just so they wouldn't get too suspicious about how much she really wanted Duncan back in her life. Although, they could clearly see that the two missed each other.

Taylor dangled her legs over the side and kicked Duncan in the ribs to get his attention. She widened her eyes, telling him to read her mind.

"SAY SOMETHING!" She yelled at him via mind talk.

"Don'y kick me." Duncan said aloud, pushing Taylor's foot away from him. Taylor shook her head at him, still talking inside their heads to him.

"Not to me!" She hissed to him, only the two hearing their mind conversation.

Duncan didn't have much time to answer his cousin, because a massive book hit him in the chest. He looked up at Geoff, eyes almost red out of anger.

"Read it, dude." Geoff told him. Courtney slid across the fountain edge, so she was sitting beside Taylor and staring down at Duncan, who now had the book in his hands and was flipping through it.

"Res la oind, turou jik reg dret." Duncan read from one of the pages he skipped to.

"What does that mean?" Courtney asked, looking around to see who would tranlate it for her.

"I think she already knows that." Gwen told Duncan moving so she was sitting crossed legged in front of him, peering over the book, too.

"I just read the page it was on." Duncan replied, starting to turn the pages rapidly, still glancing at them. Another good vampire thing was quick vision. all of the senses were imporved by two hundred percet, and vision was no expection.

"What does it mean?" Courtney repeated, as Duncab flickered through the massive book, then restarting when he finished it.

"You must always wear a dress." Geoff told her.

"I already knew that!" Courtney scolded her ex, who already knew that, too. "Can we skip to the part that I don't know?" Duncan sighed to himself and stopped on the exact page Courtney wanted; Dating rules. He had no idea why he had stopped there, but he had a feeling that Courtney wanted to know.

"Res dijit harah lionma gert fed solo red." Duncan read from the top of the page. Courtney looked down at him in anticipation.

"Your suitor should be of royal blood." Gwen translated, holding her hands to her head so she could concentrate on the words that Duncan was speaking. She hadn't spoken the lost language in years.

"Tu liond kalafay red. Dijit la gres harah la mod talul olik..." Duncan sighed, but was slightly smiling on the inside.

"But if a non-royal suitor is chosen, the royal member is...It cuts of there." Gwen said, peering down the book to see why Duncan had stopped mid-sentence. The page had been torn.

"WHY ME?" Courtney shouted up to the heavens. Her life was just one big torture magnet. Everytime she got close to the good bit, nothing good would actually come of it.

"Kaly says you must come back immedietly." Arianna told her cousin, appearing besisde Gwen and Duncan, sitting on the floor. Courtney rolled her eyes, Kaly was too bitchy for her liking.

"Talking to me?" She asked the other Princess, who thought for a moment. Was she going to talk to Coiurtney again? After everything Courtney had done to her, she didn't think the answer was yes.

"On orders only." Arianna told her, peering into the book. She read over the words and snorted slightly. Arianna had klearbt how to speak Scarla as she was growing up, so she understood perfectly what the book was saying.

"Tell Kaly I'm busy, then." Courtney told her cousin, dismissing her from the conversation and the group. If Arianna hated Courtney, Courtney wasn't going to be nice about it. In her eyes, she had done nothing wrong. Arianna just wouldn't see her side of the story.

However, Arianna wasn't paying a hell lot of attention to Courtney. Shje stole the book from Duncan and began reading it aloud herself.

"Tu liond kalafay red. Dijit la gres harah la mod talul olik." Arianna pouted slightly, as if the good bit was coming and her mother told her to go to sleep. It was a cute pout, but only the kind that got girls their own way with boys. "Why have you got this?" The blonde Princess asked, still reading over the lines in her head.

"I'm looking up rules." Courtney replied, still not showing a lot of interest in her cousin.

"Check your back pocket." Arianna told her, finally locking eyes with Courtney for the first time since the incident with Eric.

Courtney stood up and reached into her back pocket. She pulled out a small folded piece of paper from her pocket, looking at it curiously.

"Now try finishing the sentence." Arianna told her, snapping her fingers together and disappearing again.

"How did that get in your pocket?" Taylor asked, seeing how confused Courtney looked. Truth was, Queen Courtney had hidden it in her dress. When Courtney had turned the dress back to her clothes, she had also taken the paper with her.

"Who cares?" Courtney smiled. "Just hurry up and tell me what it says." Courtney thrusted the paper into Duncan's hands, who then pushed it into place in the book.

A/N: I will leave it there... ;)

LOL!

SUSPENSE! =O!

hehehe!

I like suspense. I like cliffhangers. I like not telling you guys the good bits! LOL! I just like torture ;)

Thank you to;

Aaron'sInAMineField: IN answer to what you asked me in form earlier, you said 'I'm lost for feedback atm'...So, yeah, you did mention feed back ;) LOL! I don't wanna know how you know waltzing is fun... ;) LOL! Thank you :)

pomtdwt: hehe! OMG! I hate Phineas and Ferb...Just LOVE LOVE LOVE! the songs from there ;) LOL! Weird, right? Nemesis...Must be my favorite one ;) LOL! Yes, I love your crazy reviews ;) Umm...I could try to give you advice...Not sure if I can...But I can try :) I like helping people out :) Thanks :)

InstruMental: LOL! I was totally thinking about that! hehehe! Wait...did I add that in? LOL! I can so not remember right now ;) Hmm...Maybe she will...Maybe she won't...Whon knows?...I DO! LOL! hehehe! Poor, poor Courtney...LOL! Thank you :)

Clarissa: Thanks :) Glad you love it :)

XxXYunocchi-and-TamoraXxX: LOL! I like to add drama...Meh, it may not work...But I try :) LOL! Glad you loved it :) Thank you both :)

CyD1224Izzy: Maybe they will...Maybe they won't...Who's to say? LOL! I can see the happiness in the review ;) Haha! LOL! Thanks :)

Whoo! More reviews... :) LOL!

My cat is wet...She went for a swim...In the RAIN! LOL! Yeah...It's raining outside...Bleh! Rain is wet...Tehehe!

Thanks for reading, please review :)

OMG! Remember how I said last chappie was the longest? (Did I say that?) Well, this chappie is LONGER! LOL! Thought I'd share that with you...And make it longer ;) LOL! :)

Love, ChloeRhiannonX


	9. Beating Kaly

_**9-Beating Kaly**_

"Tu liond kalafay res. Dijit la gres harah la mod talul olik ves ul inta se...seek." Duncan's eyes almost popped out of his head as he finished the sentence. It had been the right piece, all Courtney need now was to know what it meant for her.

Gwen translated all the words over in her head, before turning to Courtney with a huge smirk on her face.

"In short, you and Duncan can date, but it means you have less of a chance of becoming Queen."

"THAT'S ALL I FUCKING WANT!" She yelled, before smiling as widely as she could and pouncing on Duncan, attacking him with a kiss. It was the best kiss Courtney had ever had off Duncan. She was so glad that the two were able to be together. It was as if she wouldn't have to go the journey alone.

Gwen shook her head, picking the book up from where Duncan had tossed it. She was quite interested in all the facts and history about the palace and royalty, not only for herself, but for Courtney too. It was good to know all the ups and downs her life had now she was a Princess.

"There are way too many rules." Gwen blurted out. "Oh! Facts...Did you know there are three hundred and fifty two tiara's in the palace?"

"Fifty one." Courtney told her, pointing to the fountain where she had thrown her tiara. The brunette was now happily sitting on her boyfriends lap. It was where she wanted to be, and she was there.

"And that the shortest reign as Queen was two hours." Gwen smiled, almost stopping herself from laughing.

"What happened?" Courtney asked, not knowing that fact. It was quite interesting to her. Two hours wasn't long at all.

"Couldn't take the pressure and jumped from the top of the tower." Everyone's heads turned to face the palace, all eyes on the tower. Courtney had never been up there, but now she didn't want to go up there even more. She had heard some of the newer staff at the palace calling it huanted, but she had, had no idea why.

"Prefrably, don't do that, Court." Trent told her, making Courtney laugh.

"And there are more Princess' than Princes, so it's harder to find a Prince." Courtney nodded her head in agreement. Natural born Princes were on a short, mainly girls were being born into royal families.

"Kaly always tell me that." Courtney said, staring off into the distance.

"What's Kaly's deal?" Leah asked, only saying what everyone else was thinking. Kaly had turned into a bitch and they all wondered if Courtney knew why she was acting the way she did.

"She likes to be in control." Courtney told her cousin, who only repsonded by flicking her, now shoulder length, ginger hair over her shoulder. Kaly certainly was in control.

"Did you know you can't wear the color purple?" Gwen told Courtney, turning over to another page in the rule book.

"Someone feel like starting a tradition. Tomorrow is national purple day." Courtney announced, smiling her head off. She could just imagine Kaly's face if Courtney broke yet another rule. It was priceless in her mind, and probably would have been, too.

"And you can't go to war." Gwen yet again informed the Princess. Courtney rolled her eyes. Typical that was a rule, but the two Princess' had already been to war and won.

"Too late." Courtney mumbled.

"And that the longest race lasted twenty years." Gwen's eyes widened and her mouth gawped open. "OH MY GOD!" She cried out. "That was between your mother and aunt."

"WHAT?" Courtney yelled out, slight disbelief and uncertainty in her voice. The young girl jumped from Duncan's lap and sat beside Gwen, peering down at the book, before realizing she couldn't speak a word of it.

"Courtney and Maria Reed hold the title for longest race." Gwen read aloud, usuing her finger to point to the words on the page. "For twenty years they couldn't decided who should be Queen. Courtney had a towns person husband and Maria had a secret boyfriend who no one, to this day, has ever found out about, but he is said to be the father of current Princess of Scarlatina, Arianna Reed." Gwen glanced at Courtney, who already knew that infomation, just not to that extent. Arianna had told Courtney that she hadn't known her father, but she had never known why.

"Keep going." Courtney whispered, urging to know more.

"Courtney was eventually crowned Queen, with Nigel Black as King. This reign lasted a whole ten months, in which time the two had a daughter, Princess Courtney." Courtney budged slightly closer to Gwen, as if trying to read the book better. "Unfortunatly, the Queen and her sister were both killed at that time. This left their daughters, Courtney Black and Arianna Reed, to take their place in the race. However, Nigel took his daughter, Courtney, away from the throne, leaving Arianna stuck in the palace, unable to be crowned until the arrival of Courtney." Gwen stopped reading, as that was the end of the section.

"Wow..." Courtney whispered, in pure shock of what she had just heard. Most of that information had been new to her. No one had ever explained fully like that to her about, well, anything.

"Yeah, wow..." Gwen repated, also in shock from what she had just read.

"Your family just gets more and more complicated all the time." Leah told Courtney, thinking over all the family history in her mind. She wasn't wrong. Everything was compliacted in the family tree and how everything came about. It was mostly because of the royalty thing, but not everything was like that.

"Yeah, it does..." Courtney swallowed a deep breath and tried to refocuse her mind. "How can you all read thsi anyway?" She asked, not evern relaizing that she was the only one who couldn't.

"Well, when your as old as us-" But Gwen stopped, because everyone was laughing. "-You get to know things." She completed, laughing along with the others.

"Exactly how old are you?" Courtney asked her vampire friend.

"I'm not that old." Gwen told Courtney. "Four hundred and fifty nine." Courtney's mouth was having trouble staying closed. Not that old? Courtney was only eighteen!

"Well, I guess that is quite young compared to Duncan." Courtney joked, laughing at her boyfriend. Duncan shook his head in disappointment, smiling at the same time, though.

"Age is only a number." He protested.

"Yeah, a big number." Courtney shot back.

It was good to hear the two back at thier bickering. It was one of the many things that everyone had missed. The constant flriting, then the denial of flirting, although it never really mattered because they were together anyway.

Everyone was just happy to have Courtney back for a little while, they were trying to make the most of it while it lasted. Because they never knew when she was going to be taken away from them again.

A/N: Whoo!

This was more of a filler chapter than anything...Just telling you what was on that piece of paper, and giving you a bit more info on this story...Meh...Not my best chapter ever. LOL!

It was quite short, too...

LOL!

Thank you to;

Aaron'sInAMineField: Meh...When do I ever know what I'm doing? ;) LOL! Thank you :)

XxPurpleChickxX: LOL! Don't worry ;) You reviewed and that's all that matters :) hehe :) OH! ME! GAWD! I was totally going to review your story...I forgot PLEASE FORGIVE ME! I have read it :) I promise I have :) In fact, I will go review as soon as I have posted this :) LOL! Thanks :)

pomtdwt: LOL! Umm...Well...It sort of depends if you want to see him or not. If you want to, then you should be happy about it. You might only get to see him every so often. If you don't want him to come visit then try talking to your mother about it...Okay, that just made me a HUGE hypocrit. When I went to visit my dad last Summer, I didn't want to. But, I still had fin anyway! You never know, it might be a good thing after all :)...Okay, so I said I would try to give advice...That was me trying to give advice...If it isn't good enough...I can try again :) LOL! Thank you :)

InstruMental: ahahaha! LOL! Now I have theat un-pretty picture in my head ;) LOL! No. My cat is not like other cats...Speaking of which, I haven't seen her since I got home from school...Must go find her before she does something stupid...LOL! Thanks :)

Panda Reaper: Because I like adding suspense ;) LOL! It's okay :) I understand that not everything is commentable(Is that even a word? LOL!) :) Hehehe! DICTIONARY! Thank you :)

CyD1224Izzy: Hmm...Okay, because it's you ;) LOL! Thanks :)

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WAY! Reviews :)

WE HAVE 53! OMG! Thank you guys so much :)

Let's see if we can get over one hundred next :)

OH! It's also Brianna's birthday tomorrow! LOL! So, if I do not update, that is why :) ...Because I would have nicked the Sims 3 and played on it ALL day ;) LOL!

Thanks for reading, please review :)

Love, ChloeRhiannonX


	10. Dates

_**10-Dates**_

"What did you want to talk about?" Eric asked Courtney. The two were walking through the palace gardens on such a beautiful day. It was the first time the sun had reppeared in Scarlatina for almost an enitre month. It was a glorious day for all to bask in.

Courtney drew in a deep breath and turned to the Prince. Eye contact was kept to a minimum between the two, mainly because Courtney couldn't handle it.

"Me and Duncan are back together." She told Eric, usuing her hands to brush down her dress to make herself look busy.

"I know." Eric smiled back. Courtney looked up, confuised. That news had travelled fast. "Arianna told me." Courtney hadn't even told Arianna. It was just something she had assumed and, clearly, spread around.

"Then you should know, if you want to make me happy, GO ASK ARIANNA OUT!" Courtney yelled the last past, making sure Eric got the message. She had been constantly flirting with him since the two the day had met, but boys are just plain clueless when it comes to that sort of thing.

Eric was silent, contemplating it over in his head. He looked deeo in thought about it all. Did he actually have feelings for Arianna?

"I guess I could do that." Eric smiled, and Courtney jumped on him, wrapping her arms around his neck in a friendly hug.

"She really likes you." Courtney whispered in Eric's ear, before brekaing out of the hug before the Princess herself came out and started rumours again. "And I mean she _REALLY_ does."

"I thought she did." Eric winked, showing that he didn't know one bit. Courtney laughed and playfully hit his arm.

"It's the eyes, they always turn pink around you, right?" Eric nodded his head. He had never known why they did that, he always assumedn it was something to do with her powers, but never knew exactly what. He didn't know that much about Arianna, he had never looked into her past or anything of the sort. "That means she loves you."

"I always wanted to know that." Eric told Courtney, glancing up over her head. Arianna was sitting in the kitchen, humming to herslef ontop of the island counter. "Thank you, Courtney." Eric gave her a peck on the cheek and rushed off.

"Hey!" Courtney jumped half a mile up in the air, before jumping around and slapping Duncan's arm. He was always sneaking up on her, scaring her half to death.

"Don't do that, Duncan!" Courtney scolded, frowning at him. But he could see she wasn't serious. Duncan wrapped his arms around her waist, his fingers lacing together and pulling her body closer to his. He gently pressed his lips to hers, apologizing silently, with a simple lock of his eyes to hers.

Courtney pouted slightly, before placing her hands on either side of Duncan's burning cheeks and pulling his face towards hers, before their lips were glued together again.

"And that is the way you kiss someone, Duncan." Courtney whispered, joking around with him. "So, what did you want to ask me anyway?" Duncan had sent her a message via bleepers saying that he had something to ask her.

"Well..." Duncan was still trying to figure out the right way to ask Courtney. "I'm not sure if you know, but it's the school prom tonight." Courtney instantly knew where Duncan was going.

Courtney had once been apart of the same High school, but not anymore. Kaly had taken her out of High school in order for her to keep focused on her Princess studies. Everyone else, on the other hand, had to stay in school. Courtney had completely forgotten about them even still being in High school because

"Is this your way of asking me to the prom?" Courtney asked, pretending to be shocked that Duncan would ask her. Duncan chuckled a bit, Courtney never missed a trick.

"So what do you say?" Duncan asked, sliding his hand into Courtney's. Courtney thought for a moment. For one, Kaly wasn't going to let her go to the prom. So that was even more of a reason to say yes. Then everyone in the school knew Courtney was a Princess, so, without a dount, all eyes were going to be on her.

"One question." Courtney told him, holding up one finger. "Do I have to wear a dress?" Courtney was fed up of wearing dresses and would kill to just have one day where she wasn't forced to wear one.

Duncan laughed at his girlfriend. He knew how bad she had it in the palace, but he loved how she hadn't had the life sucked out of her by Kaly quite yet. Courtney was always trying to keep a barve smile on her face, no matter what was going on inside her mind. That was one of the many things Duncan loved about her. She always looked on the bright side of life.

"You can wear whatever you want." Duncan told Courtney, resting his forehead on hers. Courtney gave him a genlt peck on the lips, thinking about all the clothes she could actually wear that night.

"Then maybe, just maybe, I'll consider going with you." Duncan knew that was Courtney's way of accpeting his offer.

The strong smell of homemade soup overtook the whole kitchen. The cook was hard at work and Arianna was busy dipping slices of bread into the large pot out of hunger.

"Hey, Arianna." Eric smiled. Arianna almost chocked on the food as Eric jumped on the counter beside her. "Are you busy tonight?" Arianna was completely taken off guard. She had no idea what to say, she barely ever spoke to Eric.

"Oh...Uh...Hey-Eric-No-I'm-Not-Busy-Tonight-Why?" Arianna said, not coming up for a breath until the end. She didn't even look at Eric, so he couldn't even tell that her eyes were bright pink, as usual.

Althought, the Prince could already tell that Arianna's eyes were that color, they always were around him. He seemed so happy, though. He liked her and she liked him, that's all he needed to do.

"I wanted to know if you want to do something together." If Arianna had still been eating, she would have spat it back out. She knew what that meant, or at least she thought it was what she was hoping for.

"Just-me-and-you?" She asked, talking just as fast as last time. "Yeah-sure-what-did-you-have-in-mind?" The fast talking came from being so nervous around Eric.

"Maybe we could go for a walk or something." Eric suggested. "I'm not quite sure what the limit is on you." He was refering to what Kaly would and wouldn't allow them to do. Eric new that Arianna wasn't going to break the rules for anything.

"Oh...Well..Uh...We-can-do-whatever-you-want-to-nothing-I-can't-do-tonight." Arianna came up for a long breath. Talking fast was wearing her out already.

"Great." Eric smiled. He jumped down from the counter and jogged out the kitchen door, going deeper inside the palace. "Oh." He turned back to Arianna, who, for the first time, turned to him. "That eye color really suits you." The Prince gave her a wink and Arianna's cheeks burned as bright as her eyes.

As soon as Eric had left the room, Arianna shook her head clear of the love signs in her eyes and bolted it down the garden. The Princess dived onto the bench beside her cousin, squealing with joy.

"COURTNEY!" Courtney held her hand up to her ear, signalling that her ear drums were about ot burst. "I'm going on a date with Eric!" Courtney smiled, but tried to make sure Arianna wasn't suspecting anything.

"That's wonderful." Courtneyn told Arianna, standing up and pretending to look at the flowerbeds that had been planted around the gardens for the Summer months ahead.

Arianna gave Courtney a funny look behind her back. Even Arianna knew Courtney well enough to know she was hiding something from her. It was the way she wouldn't give her eye contact, or too much interest in the conversation. But, Arianna chose to shrug it off.

"I need your help to make me less Princessy, we're going outside the palace." Arianna squealed again. She was very excited to be leaving the palace, especially leaving it with Eric at her side.

"Well, I'm going out, too, mind." Courtney told her cousin, turning to face her. "So, we can help each other."

"Where are you going?" Arianna asked, moving to stand beside Courtney 'admiring the flowerbeds'.

"Last day of High school, prom tonight." Courtney sounded quite excited herself. She was going to see all her old friends, too. Well, she didn't even have a lot of friends from High school.

"And you want to go in casual wear?" Arianna asked. She may never have been to a prom, but she was sure people didn't usually go with a casual look.

"No, not casual. Just less Princessy." Arianna tapped her finger on her chin, thinking over how Courtney will look in a certain dress she had stored away.

"I have the perfect idea." Arianna grabbed Courtney's hand in her own and dragged her back up the garden, leading her twowards her bedroom. She knew exactly what Courtney could wear to the prom.

A/N: In a rush.

Hope you enjoyed :)

Sorry if it's slightly short, in a rush.

LOL!

Happy Birthday, Brianna!

Thanks for reading, please review :)

Love, ChloeRhiannonX


	11. Prom

_**11-Prom**_

"Well, don't you look good?" Arianna giggled, appearing on the wall beside the group. They were all sat outside the High school, just having a general chat before making there entrance into the dance itself.

"Don't I always?" Duncan winked back, shifting his legs so his girlfriend was more comfortable on his lap. The vampire-punk looked his cousin-in-law up and down, taking a good look at her outfit; black skinny jeans, a tight fit, with a red t-shirt and blue cardigan. It wasn't the most color coordinbated outfit, but it looked quite nice.

"She's got a date, which she should be leaving for." Courtney told Duncan. She was wearing a beautiful pink dress that was just to her fit. It flowed swiftly down her tanned legs, with a black silk belt underneath her bust. It was strapless and showed off more of her mocha colored skin. She looked radient in the dress, as if giving off a excited glow. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought I'd come see you." Arianna told her cousin as if it was an obvious answer. "Plus, Eric said he had a last minute meeting at the palace, so I got nothing better to do." She sighed.

That was one of the bad parts of being Royal. The endless meeting could drive a person to insanity. On top of no one telling you until the last minute and then not knowing what it was about. You just had to brave a smile and sit through the endless torture until it was over and done with.

"Great." Courtney smiled, but her look then turned serious. "Now what's the real reason?" Arianna's face then turned from happy to nervous.

"Kaly is going to kill us." She blurrted out. "I mean, I know she knows we're out, but she is going to kill us." Courtney shook her head, laughing at Arianna. She was such a worrier, always panicking over the small things.

"I don't care, Arianna." Courtney told her, grabbing Geoff's wrist with her hand and checking the time in his wrist watch. "Now, go meet up with Eric, you don't wanna be late."

"Okay, okay, bye, guys." Arianna clicked her fingers and she was gone from the spot where she once been sat.

"How did she get a date with Eric?" Taylor asked, after making sure Arianna had definitely gone. Last she heard, Eric had been crushing on Courtney and the two Princess' weren't even talking.

"Something tells me Courtney had something to do with it." Geoff replied, turning his head to the side to face Courtney. The undead girl was trying her best not to smirk, and failing miserably at it, too.

"Me? No way!" Courtney told him, stopping the giggles by sinking her teeth into her bottom lip. Everyone knew Courtney had done something or other to get Eric to ask Arianna out on a date, but they wanted nothing to do with it. They all knew Courtney was cunning and devious, and didn't want to be brought in on her plans.

"You just can't help meddling, can you?" Gwen sighed, shaking her head in a joking manner. The goth girl smoothed out the creases in her black and white dress. It looked stunning on her, not too clingly, but not loose, either.

In fact, all the girls looked beautiful. Taylor and Bridgette were both wearing blue dress', Bridgette's a baby blue and Taylor's a electric light blue. They both hugged their chests and waists, but flowed down to their knees.

Leah was wearing a purple, strapless dress that clung to her curves, shwoing off her jaw dropping figure. Most girls were quite jealous of Leah. She was stick thin, but still had the right figure that most guys craved a girl to have. However, Leah remained single as she believed no boy was good enough for her.

Even the boys looked decent in their tuxedos. All wearing straight black pants, stainless white shirts and creaseless black jackets. Their polished shoes shone under the bright half-moon (the dance wasn't allowed on a full moon, due to some students no being able to control their werewold powers). Overall, they all cleaned up well.

"I can't help who they fall in love with." Courtney protested, sighing dreamily and snuggling her face into Duncan's neck. He moved his hands from her waist to her stomach, lacing his fingers together, holding his girlfriend tighter to him.

"I thought Eric was in love with you." Trent said. Courtney's eyes shot open. She had forgotten that the group knew of Eric's little crush on her.

"People move on, Trent." Courtney replied, settling herself back into a comfortable position. "He was, but now he's not." Trent shook his head.

It was typical of Courtney to play with boys emotions. They all fell for her and then she would hurt them because she either didn't like them or told them she already had a boyfriend. However, it usually was her who led them on in the first place.

"Are we gonna stay out here all night or actually go in?" Taylor asked, shivering in the cold night air.

Inside the school gym had been decorated out especially for the prom. The plastic flooring had been polished for the first time in thrity years and the walls had been washed down to remove all the dirt and grime that had build up.

Multi-colored party streamers were hanging from the lowe ceiling and some floating in mid-air with spells charmed on them to keep them afloat. A disco ball had been placed in the center of the ceiling, reflecting all of the flashing stribe lights that were color coordinated to the mood of the songs that were being played.

"Hey girlies." Izzy greeted, jumping into place by her friends. She wore a simple green dress. It looked slightly like a japenese komono with it's floor length and body tight syle, also topped with Izzy's ginger mop of hair pinned up in a messy bun, with two side bangs flowing down her cheeks.

"Wow, Izzy, you look really good." Bridgette complimented the basket case, who gave her a happy smile in return, twirling around in her dress.

"I don't see why we come to these things." Gwen sighed, watching everyone dancing around on the floor. The girls were all to the side, waiting for the guys to return. "They are so boring."

"How many proms have you been to?" Courtney asked, giggling at Gwen in her stressed out state.

"Oh, let's count." Gwen held up her hand and pretended to be counting. "One...Five...Eight...Seventy-one!" She yelled out, throwing her arms in the air. Courtney laughed somemore at her. She really had missed her friends.

"That's a lot!" Courtney shouted back over the loud music that had begun playing.

"It's what you get for attending regular High schools." Taylor laughed, too. Gwen stuck her middle finger up at Taylor and turned her back on the vampire. Taylor and Courtney fell into a fit of giggles against the wall.

"This is my first prom." Bridgette said, leaning against the all beside her best friend, who was quite interested. "And hopefully my last, I don't intend on repeating High school." Courtney smiled. Bridgette have been a straight B student, but High school wasn't her scene.

"Me either." Courtney told Bridgette.

"HEY!" Izzy called to the girls, looking around the gym. "Why is it that everone around us keeps giving us funny slash dirty looks?" The redhead had a point. The girls took a look around and a few faces turned away from them. Nearly everyone had stared at them at one point or another.

"It's Courtney." Leah smirked. "She's dragging in all the attention." The other redhead wrapped her arm around her cousins neck, laughing at her. Courtney pushed Leah away, playfully.

"Not my fault!" Courtney protested.

"Could be worse." Taylor told her. "You could also be elected prom Queen." An instant fear washed over Courtney. Prom Queen may have been an average teenage girls dream, but she wasn't an average teenage girl. She was a Princess pretendning to be average for one night.

"DON'T YOU DARE VOTE FOR ME!" Courtney screamed at Taylor, who only laughed, along with everyone else. They could tell that Courtney didn't want to be Prom Queen, and they weren't cruel enough to vote her in anyway.

"I don't even attend this school." She pointed out. Which was true. Kaly had withdrawn her, therefore, making her unapart of the school.

"But you used to be, that's good enough to get voted in." Gwen smirked at a worried looking Courtney.

"Chill, Court, baby." Izzy told her. "No one's going to vote for you." The hyperactive girl took a sweeping glance around the hall. "Where are the guys?" She asked, not spotting them anywhere.

"They went to cast their votes for King and Queen." Taylot told her.

The back room was being used to cast the votes, that way there was less of a chnace of someone messing up the votes if a teacher was stood there the whole time, too.

"Who are you gonna vote for?" Bridgette asked her friends. That made everyone think for a moment. They had agreed to go make thier own votes once the guys got back from doing theirs.

"I'm thinking of voting for Courtney, you know, for the fun of it." Taylor smiled at her cousin-in-law, who didn't seem too impressed with the suggestion.

The group of girls giggled at Courtney's pissed off look, while still thinking on who to vote for. It was a tough choice.

"I have no idea." Courtney finally said and everyone nodded their heads.

"Mine's a secret." Izzy told the girls. She knew what one of her friends she was voting for, but wasn't going to tell them that she was voting for them. She had at least that much sense in her body.

"Boo!" Courtney leaped forward, turning to face behind her. Duncan was standing there, his signature bright smirk on his face. He was always sneaking up and scaring his girlfriend. "Your turn to go vote, ladies." He told the girls, gesturing towards the door behind him where the voting was being held.

Courtney slapped his chest in a plyful manner as she walked past him to go vote. She still had no idea who to vote for.

The voting didn't stay open for much longer after the girls had snet in their votes. No one was telling anyone who they had voted for, it was all very secretive between the group of friends.

A small, stumpy man walked up in front of the happy teenagers, who had been dancing to the music until it had been cut off. The man held a microphone in his left hand and white envelope in his right.

"Okay, students, that is it." The Principal spoke into the mic. "The voting is over."

"And this years royalty is..." Leah whispered to the girls, who giggled at her.

"And your prom King is...Geoff Small!" It was no shock that Geoff had won. He won everything that went by popularity in the school. He was mister popular.

Geoff walked up to the front of the gym, everyone was cheering for him. He loved all the attention as he had the crown placed on his head by one of the school council members.

"Not a shocked there." Izzy yelled out, making everyone laugh.

"And you Prom Queen is...Gwen Lewis!" That one was a shocker. Gwen was frozen to the spot, before Courtney and Bridgette grabbed her hands and pulled her forward a bit.

The girls knew how many Proms Gwen had been to before, and this was going to be her final one. They had told the guys to spread around for her to be voted in for Prom Queen as she had never been voted for before.

That was why everyone wasn't talking about their votes. They had all voted for Gwen, but didn't want her knowing it.

"Congrats." He told the two as the same boy placed a tiara on Gwen's head.

"Come on." Geoff whispered into Gwen's ear. "You now officially have to dance with me." Gwen groanedn underneath her breath. Dancing wasn't her thing, but Geoff still grabbed her hand and puleld her onto the dance floor. He was going to make sure she had a fun night at her final Prom.

A/N:...That sounded slightly creepy, didn't it?

LOL! OH WELL!

Bleh...

I'm ill...I'm in bed and it is currently 10:53 AM on a Monday morning and I don't know why I told you that...LOL!

Still feel ill...and Tired...

Had so much fun Saturday night for Brianna's birthday. You haven't seen anything until you see a 52 year old play Just Dnace 2 with a sixteen year old and win! haha...

I can't be bothered to say me thank you's right now...Too tired to write much right now...

I'll see if I can update again later, make up for no updating this yesterday...

and FYI, I have never been to a Prom before...

Thanks for reading, please review :)

Love, ChloeRhiannonX


	12. Weirdly Normal

_**12-Weirdly Normal**_

"Where's Taylor?" Courtney asked, instantly seeing that she was missing from the group. It may have been because Courtney had been standing there for five seconds and still no insult about what she was wearing; her usual outfit that she had been wearing since she first appeared in Duncan's dreams.

"We have the joy of going to her house to get her." Gwen told Courtney, her face dead straight and her voice a simple monotone. Courtney gave Gwen a curious look.

"You don't sound too excited about that." Courtney said and Gwen shot her a death glare.

"You haven't met her family." Came her reply as she walked away from Courtney.

Courtney hadn't met Taylor's parents or siblings, or even heard her mention them. Ever. But she knew Duncan, her cousin, and Rebecca, Phoebe, Derick and her aunt and uncle. They all seemed normal, well, as normal as things went in Scarlatina.

"I mean her mom and sisters...They're just...Wait and see." Gwen said, walking away again.

The goth girl had confused Courtney completely. She had no idea what she meant by 'wait and see'. There couldn't have been anything wrong with them, could there? That was all Courtney could think about, if something was wrong with them and they were crazed, out of control vampires who would try to eat her.

"They can't be that bad." Bridgette told Gwen. Hardly anyone did know Taylor's family, such as her sisters and mother.

Gwen just flashed her eyebrows at the blonde fairy, as if to say 'want a bet?'. The gothic vampire was dead set on not telling anyone what was so bad about Taylor's family, but also telling them it was bad.

"Are we done bitching about my family, Gwen?" Duncan asked, shoving his way past her. Gwen narrowed her eyes at Duncan as she peered at him over her shoulder, as if to say 'for now'. She really was acting a little bitchy today.

"Let's go then." Duncan smirked back, which wasn't what she was expecting.

Duncan slipped his hand into Courtney's, tangling his fingers with hers. He took off for Taylor's house, which only he, Gwen and Geoff knew the where abouts of.

It wasn't far away from the fountain area, only a five minute walk from the Black house, heading up towards the palace again.

"How many sisters does she have?" Courtney asked, curious about Taylor's family now that Gwen had mentioned it.

"Two." Trent replied. "Jasmine and Nikita." Courtney nodded her head, trying to picture them in her mind. However, she hadn't the slightest clue what they looked like.

"It's just them, and their foster mom, Zelda...But she's rarely around, anyways." Duncan told his girlfriend. Courtney stopped dead in her tracks, pulling Duncan back a bit since he continued walking.

"Foster mom?" Courtney hadn't known that Taylor was adopted, or even in care for that matter. And no one had even bother to mention it to her.

"Most vampires are foster kids." Geoff told Courtney, stepping into the space on the opposite side of her to Duncan.

The young bruenette suddenly felt really bad. She really did feel bad for Taylor and for-

"I am." Duncan told Courtney, looking down at her with his big, blue eyes. "Becks, Phoebe and Derick aren't really my siblings. We're all adopted." Courtney's stomach clenched.

All the time she had thought she had it bad without a mom, but, really, some of her friends didn't have any parents at all. Courtney was lucky enough to have her father, but she had taken that for granted.

"It would have been nice if you had mentioned some of this to me." Courtney replied, her head feeling a bit dizzy. She couldn't even turn and face Duncan. "So, Taylor's not your adctual cousin?" Courtney asked, realizing that they were all fostered.

"No." Duncan told her, pulling her to the side and sitting her down on a garden wall, so she could take it all in. "Taylor is my foster dads, sisters foster daughter." Courtney nodded her head, feeling a bit giddy.

"Come on." Duncan whispered in Courtney's ear, helping her to her feet again. "It's only that house, that one there." Duncan pointed to a house two doors down and Courtney nodded her head.

Steadying her eyes, Courtney took a good look at the house. She had passed it many times before, but not really taken time to stop and look at it. It was a mess. Well, that's how Courtney saw it, anway.

The front lawn was in tatters, scattered with young childrens toys as the grass grew wildly, never been cut. The house itself could have done with a paint job. The light brown paint was peeling, but no one seemed to care. The blue tiles on the roof were falling off, but no one seemed to notice. The front door looked like it had been kicked in a few times and had only just been put back up.

How Courtney had missed that house before, she did not know. It stuck out like a sore thumb amoungst the others in the row along the street.

"She lives here?" Courtney asked, giving the building a look up and down. It wasn't the place that Courtney had been expecting Taylor to live.

"Yep." Duncan replied, stepping one foot forward and appearing at the door. Vampire speed had to be the thing he used for advantage the most.

Everyone else walked up behind him, waiting for someone to answer to the door. But no one did. In stead, there was a lot of shouting coming from inside the house.

"GET THE DOOR!" One voice said, it was definitely a girl.

"Why can't you?" Cama another whiney door. It sounded young than the first.

"I'm eating!" The first girl yelled. "Now get the door, Nik!" There was a loud crash after that, then a short silence.

"MOM! GET THE DOOR!" Duncan rolled his eyes. t was always the same when he knocked on the door. Always an argument to see who was going to answer the door, then Nikita always answering the door in the end anyway.

"MOM'S NOT HERE, NIKI!" Taylor shouted and Duncan banged his fist on the door again, showing he was still there.

"MOM SAID YOU CAN'T CALL ME NIKI!"

"MOM'S NOT HERE!" Taylor screamed back. "JUST GET THE DOOR, NIK!"

"FINE!" The young girl yelled. There was another loud crash, this time it sounded like knives and forks clashing with a plate. It was then followed by the stomping of feet on creaky floor boards. Finally the door was pulled open.

There was a young girl, about five, standing in front of the group. She did look like Taylor a little bit. She had the same tanned skin and dark brown hair, with black eyes that reflected off the sun in the morning sky. She was wearing pink t-shirt and a black skirt, which showed off lots of scratches, scars and claw marks on her legs.

"IT'S ONLY DUNCAN!" She called back inside the house. "OH! AND SOME PEOPLE I DON'T KNOW!" Nikita turned to face the direction she had been shouting and ran off into the room by the side.

"Hey guys!" Taylor greeted, skidding into the wall from running too fast. "Um...What are you doing here?" She asked. Duncan raised an eyebrow at her cousin, seeing she was quite nervous about something.

"Thought we'd come see why you weren't coming out today." Duncan replied, narrowing his eyes, trying to read Taylor's mind, but she was blocking him out.

"I'm busy watching Nikita." Taylor quickly answered, hoping that they would all leave soon.

"My. Name. Is. NIKITA!" The young girl yelled, appearing at the bottom of the staircase, so her eyes were level with Taylor's.

Taylor gave her sister a push and she fell on her butt on the step above the one she had been standing on. Nikita stuck her tongue out at Taylor, before running off again.

"Well, thanks for stopping bye guys. I'll see you all tomorrow." Taylor smiled sweetly, but, on the inside, she just wanted them to leave.

"We're not going that easily." Duncan told her, staring down at Taylor as she tried to push him out of the house.

"What smells really good?" Gwen asked, sniffing the air in the house.

Courtney took in one inhale of the house smell and gaged. She covered her hand over her mouth and nose, trying to get rid of the smell from her system. Blood.

"It's werewolf!" Nikita yelled, making Trent jump as she was standing behind him.

"It's Zebra." Taylor told Nikita. The little girl folded her arms over her chest and stuck out her bottom lip.

"Tastes like werewolf..." She muttered.

"Okay, Nik, go eat your werewolf." Taylor death glared her younger sister, who ran as fast as she could into the side room again, screaming her head off.

"How old is she?" Courtney asked. She had never met a vampire younger than Phoebe, who was fifteen. It was a shock to see such a young girl in that state.

Physically three, mentally five." Taylor sighed, sinking into one of the stes on the stircase. The blye carpet was faded, almost gray from wearing out with all the deet running up and down on it.

"I-I didn't know you could get vampires that young." Courtney said, sitting down beside her. Taylor nodded her head, a solom look on her face.

"The young you are, the worse it is." Taylor told Courtney. "It's horrible to think of a three year old going through all that pain." Taylor sighed. "But enough info. on Niki."

"You don't look like a Princess." Nikita told Courtney, aooearing at the bottom of the stircase, holding a small plastic card.

"Leave my ID alone." Courtney snapped, pulling the card out of the young girls hands.

"I'm just saying, the other Princess looks like a Princess, YOU don't look like a Princess." Nikita poked Courtney's chest. "You look like a vampire, or maybe a pixie." Courtney gave Nikita the most puzzled face ever. That was mianly because she was confused about what she was rambling on about.

"I'm a sorcerer." Courtney told Nikita. The little girl's eyes widened in amazment.

"NEAT-O!" She squealed. "Can you do something?"

"Like what?" Courtney asked, wondering what Nikita wanted her to do exactly. There was quite a lot Courtney could do with her powers, even if Kaly wasn't training her on how to use them.

"If I was you I'd make myself more Princessy." Nikita told Courntey, nodding her head. "Uh-Huh, I would."

Courtney held her hand up to herself, turning it in a circle. She then cken ched her hand together and squeezed her eyes tightly together. Ever since she had become a Princess and lost time to use her powers, she was finding it a little more difficult to use them.

"WOW!" Nikita yelled, jumping back onto the ground, away from the stuiarcase. Courtney was wearing her favorite red dress and one of the many tiara's on top of her head.

Courtney smiled down at Nikita's happy, smiling face. She liked the feeling of making others happy, especially young girls in Nikita's position in life. But, then, the brunette girl felt a tingle flow through her body. She shivered a little and looked down at herself, discovering that her clothes had gone back to their normal state. She was no longer wearing the Princess dress, heels or even the tiara.

"That was weird." Courtney said, peering down at herself.

"You're average again, BORING!" Nikita yelled, running off for the last time.

"What's wrong, Court?" Geoff asked, seeing how concerned she was with something about herself.

"I went back to my normal clothes without doing anything." Courtney replied, twisting her hand at her body again, but nothing was happening. She then held her hand up at Bridgette, who squeezed her own eyes together, but nothing happed to Bridgette. "Nothing."

A/N: OH! =O!

LOL! Still ill...Feeling a bit better today though :)

ACTUALLY! I have a wicked idea for a story today...I know I promised Aaron that if I had a new story idea that I wouldn't use the TD cast...BUT! This idea came to me with the TD cast in mind! I am sorry...Next story I will try! I promise!

SO! This idea has come to me from wtaching a TV show on Disney called Overruled...Heard of it? I won't be surprised if you haven't, it's...Not on anymore, I don't think...It's only shown over here in the UK during school hours now, so I doubt it, anyway ;) LOL!

BUT! If you have, it's the same basic principle of the show. A teen court in High school...What do you think? I am open to ideas, too. Either for this story(Court cases and such) or other story ideas :)

I haven't said me thank you's in a while...I have three chapters worth to do...Here I go...

Thank you to;

Chapter 9-

XxPurpleChickxX: It's okay :) It was a really good story :) hehehe! Thank you :)

mo: Hmm...Maybe she will ;) LOL! Thanks :)

Aaron'sInAMineField: Oooh! You? SPECHLESS! AGAIN! LOL! Thank you :)

InstruMental: ahahaha! I found her...She was spread out on my parents bed...LOL! OMG! She actually woke me up this morning at 2:30...SHE WAS TRYING TO BREAK INTO MY CUPBOARD! Weird cat...LOL! Thanks :)

sweetElisabeth: Thank you :)

Panda Reaper: ahahaha! Yeah...LOL! ahahaha! I don't mind what you say :) Thanks :)

CyD1224Izzy: ahahaha! No problem ;) Thank you :)

Clarissa: YAY! LOL! Glad you love my stories :) Thanks :)

PenguinsRcute: Aww...It's okay :) I understand that not everyone can review all the time :) Thank you :)

XxXYunocchi-and-TamoraXxX: awww! Hope she's okay now, though :) Thanks :)

Chapter 10-Thank you to everyone who wished Brianna a Happy Birthday, we had an AWESOME time on Saturday :)

eternalstarlight28: I know! I try to work SUPER FAST on this story :) I really love it :) Aww! I hope you do better next time :) Leah is from Nigel's side of the family. Thank you :)

XxXYunocchi-and-TamoraXxX: hehehe! Thanks :)

InstruMental: ahaha!...Is it sad that it took me till just now to realize what you meant by Valentines day has passed...LOL! Thanks :)

XxPurpleChickxX: hehehe! LOL! Thank you :)

pomtdwt: Hmm...I like them all ;) LOL! Thanks :)

Aaron'sInAMineField: hehe...I've noticed ;) It will get back to that, but this is just part of it, that's all :) Thank you :)

Chapter 11-

XxXYunocchi-and-TamoraXxX: haha! Sorry...I shouldn't laugh...being ill sucks...LOL! Thanks :)

InstruMental: Hahaha! It was fun ;) LOL! Thank you :)

Aaron'sInAMineField: ahahahaha! I know, right? LOL! Thpought I'd wrote it...LOL! Thanks :)

pomtdwt: hehehe! LOL! Thank you :)

XxPurpleChickxX: LOL! Thanks :)

eternalstarlight28: Thank you :)

sweetElisabeth: hehe! Thanks :)

Phew...That took a lot of effort..

OMG! Hobo's can't afford cable...LOL! Sorry, watching iCarly atm...LOL!

Thank you all :) I feel so glad that we have 77 reviews! WHOO!

LOL!

Thank you for reaidng, please review :)

Love, ChloeRhiannonX


	13. Missing Powers

_**13-Missing Powers**_

The bright light almost blinded Courtney as Geoff shone the torch in her eyes again.

"And blink." Courtney blinked on command, but nothing was helping. Geoff sighed and turned the torch off. There was nothing he could do.

"Well?" Nigel questioned. He was concerned about his daughter and her powers. He had never come across a sorcerer who had lost thier powers the way Courthney had claimed she had lost hers.

"Nothing." Geoff told him, packing his medical bag back up. "There is absolutly nothing wrong, her powers have just gone."

"She had no powers, there must be something wrong!" Kaly snapped, slamming her fists down on the bed, beside Courtney.

"How do you feel, Courtney?" Geoff asked the Princess. Courtney sat for a moment, fiddling with her red dress and tiara. She had manually changed into it, in stead of clicking her fingers as usual.

"I feel fine." She sighed, not looking up at anyone, just down at the floor.

"There's nothing more I can say, Kaly." Geoff said, turning to the council member. "Only thing I can do is take her up the hospital and have them run some tests, but there really is no need for that." Geoff slung his bag over his shoulder.

Kaly's face said more than enough. She looked ready to beat the shit out of the nearest wall, and not let it survive. Her face was scrumpled up and her eyes were narrowd on Courtney, though. Courtney was looking quite scared by the look, so she started fidgeting with her dress even more.

"Isn't that what happened to Taylor?" Courtney asked Geoff, the memory coming back to her from before. "She lost her visions."

"I guess it's the same thing, and Taylor had her visions back after a little while." Geoff replied. Kaly, however, didn't look too impressed byb any of it.

"Well, if there's nothing we can do, I guess, Court, you don't have any powers." Nigel shrugged, placing his hands in his pockets. There wasn't anyone else couldn't do for Courtney, she would just bhave to accept that her powers weren't there anymore.

"It's okay." Courtney sighed, but it wasn't. "I'm fine without them." But she wasn't. Courtney believed she was nothing without her powers. She felt empty without them now she knew about them.

Kaly held her hand to her head, trying to think everything over in her mind. She used her other hand to click her fingers and a book appeared on the bed beside Courtney. It wasn't the rule book, Courtney had never seen this book before. Kaly started flicking thorugh the pages without touching it. She was looking for something in particular.

"What is that?" Courtney asked, trying to read it, but soon she came to the realization that it was written in Scarla. Most of the books in the palace were written in Scarla.

"This is my rule book." Kaly muttered, picking it up and dragging her finger over the page it had landed on, reading the words carefully.

"This shouldn't effect you, Kaly." Geoff told her. Kaly shook her head, it did effect her, though.

"But it does." Kaly told him. "Now both the Princess' are powerless..." Courtney tried to hide the smile on her face. She knew exactly what this meant for her now.

"Now they should be even, again." Nigel told Kaly, reading the book over her shoulder.

"No, Princess Arianna is winning now." Kaly told him.

"YES!" Courtney shouted, before realizing that everyone was now staring at her. "I mean..Oh now, this is such a shame...?"

"This is all because Princess Courtney is dating a towns person." Kaly sighed and Courtney wanted to strangle her. Kaly would take any opportunity to say something bad about Duncan.

"And Arianna is dating a royal...YES!" Courtney yelled, jumping to her feet and randomly dancing on the spot. She had never been so happy in her life. She didn't want to be Queen, and now there was even less of a chance of her becoming Queen.

Nigel shook his head at his daughter. He knew she didn't want to be a Princess, but wasn't quite sure how far she would take things to make sure she wasn't ever crowned Queen.

"YES! YES! YES!" Courtney chanted, ignoring her father. "I'M LOSING, UH-HUH. I'M LOSING, UH-HUH!" The brunette teeanger was over the moon with happiness about it. Losing was exactly what she wanted.

Out in the corridor, everyone was waiting patiently for news on Courtney. They were all worried for her, trying not to think of any long term consequences or diseases she may have had to be causing her powers to be missing.

"What's taking so long?" Taylor asked, getting more and more impatient by the second. Taylor was a ticking time bomb of patience, with not much left.

"Examinations can take a long time." Gwen told her, but that wasn't helping with her patience.

Arianna appeared in front of the group, facing the wall where a mirror was placed on the wall. She was brushing her golden locks, not making eye contact with anyone, even though they were all facing her.

"The examination is over." She told them. "They are all discussing Courtney's options and she is dancing." Bridgette gave Arianna a funny look.

"She's dancing?" The blonde fairy questioned.

"Yes, she is dancing." Arianna told her, placing her silver hairbrush onto the table under the mirror. "She is dancing because she is now losing the race." She explained, seeing everyone's confused faces.

"I thought you were even." Trent told Arianna. The Princess shook her head, closing ehr eye and facing the floor. Everyone thought that they would be even, but they weren't. Arianna wanted to win just as much Courtney wanted to lose.

"We would be if dating didn't count, but it does, so we're not even anymore." Arianna gave a nod of her head, but no one understood a ord she had said.

Before anyone could ask what she was going on about, the double doors were pulled violently open and out stormed Kaly. Her face read angry, plain and simple.

Everyone's eye followed Kaly as she stomped off, deeper into the palace. No one even noticed Courtney walking out of the room, her hand over her mouth, muffling the laughing from everyone's ears.

"She is so dramatic!" Geoff chuckled, following Courtney out of the room. Courtney nodded her head in agreement.

Kaly always went overboard with things. Just the tiniest thing could set her off. Kaly had, had high hopes that Courtney would win the race against Arianna, now she thought Courtney didn't stand a chance. But that wasn't true. Courtney still had a chance.

"That is Kaly all over." Arianna told him, smiling herself.

Courtney sighed and skipped dreamily over to Duncan, sitting herself down on his lap and crashing her lips to his. Duncan was caught of guard. That was the last thing he had been expecting her to do when she left the room.

"I love you." She whispered, holding his face in her hands and resting her cheek on his. Duncan kissed Courtney's ear, since that was all he could reach with her keeping his face in her hands.

"I love you, too." He whispered back.

Eric came walking down the corridor. He had been staying in the palace so he could see more of Arianna. The two were unofficially a couple ever since there date the other night.

"Are you guys even allowed in here?" He asked, thinking that Kaly was mad because they were in 'her' palace.

"That's the best bit." Gwen told him. "No, we're not allowed in here." The group weren't allowed inside the palace, but they weren't going to leave Courtney alone in her time of need.

"But we don't care, we're staying." Taylor told him.

Courtney jumped up from Duncan's lap, back to her feet, holding her hand up and turning it on herself. Instantly, her red dress turned into her normal clothes again. Everyone's faces dropped to the floor.

"Well, I personally don't want to stay here." She told her friends.

"Your powers?" Bridgette muttered in complete shock. Courtney gave a sly smile. It was all part of her plan.

"I never lost them." She said. "This is my way of annoying Kaly, and now I am losing the race!" Courtney was now happy.

"You are so devious." Trent told her, smiling at her cleverness.

"I'm thinking of faking memory loss next." Courtney smiled in return, only her smile was a lot more mischeivious.

"That may just kill Kaly." Nigel told his daughter, leaning his body against the door frame of the room.

"She has high hopes for Courtney." Arianna told everyone, but everyone already knew that. Kaly was more protective over Courtney than she was over Arianna. It was as if Kaly wanted Courtney to win more than she wanted Arianna to win. Everyone knew that was the truth.

A/N: Oooh!

LOL!

Still ill...Bad headache right now...taken me three and a half hours to just write this...Bleh...Hate illness...

Thanks for reading, please review :)

Love, ChloeRhiannonX


	14. Masey and Kristy

A/N: Second chapter of the day, read the other one first if you already haven't

ENJOY!

_**14-Masey and Kristy**_

"Nice to see you're still here, Dunc." The girl smiled, almost jumping on the teen boy in a hug. The girl looked around twenty, with bleahc blonde hair and bright brown eyes. She wore a three leafed flower in her hair, two petals red and one black. Along with her red bob-tube and short black skirt. Completed with a necklace that read 'Leader' in black and red letters.

"Thanks, Mase." Duncan smiled back at the girl. He clearly knew her, and sounded quite shocked to have actually seen her. "But, why are you here?" He asked. The blonde girl smiled deviously.

"I heard the new Princess was giving Kaly HELL!" She replied, flashing her eyebrows at Duncan and elbowing him gently. Ducan smiled back, running his hand through his 'hawk as he laughed at his friend. Typical Masey to him.

"You don't miss a thing, do you?" He asked.

"Nope." Masey answered, smiling brightly as ever. She sat down on the fountain edge beside her friend. "So, are you still-" But she never finished her sentence because Duncan slapped his hand over her mouth.

"No, I'm not." Duncan told her, already knwoing what she was going to say.

Masey, never missing a thing, knew exactly why Duncan had shut her up mid-sentence. She wiped his hand away from her mouth and questionaly looked him in the eyes.

"No one knows you did, do they?" Duncan shook his head. No one knew what he used to do.

"More specifically, my girlfriend doesn't know." He told Masey, who smiled even wider, as he ran a nervous hand through his hair again.

"Aww!" Masey held a hand to her heart, touched. "Duncan finally got himself a girlfriend."

Through all the years that the two had knwon each other, and that was a long set of years, Duncan had never had a girlfriend. He had always told his friends that he was waiting for that one special girl to walk right into his life. It wasn't entirely a lie. He was waiting for the right girl. But he knew that girl was going to be Courtney the whole time. He just had to wait for her brith first.

"Mock all you like." Duncan told her, a smile on his own lips. He had been doing more smiling and less smirking as the days moved on. "But I think you'll be interested to know who she is."

Masey was on the edge of her seat at those words. She had no idea why she would be interested in who she was, but she wanted to know. Masey loved knowing everything about everyone. She liked being kept informed on all the gossip, and this was gossip for her.

"Who is she?"

"Courtney Black." Two words. Two words and Masey's face lit up like a Christmas tree. She had never been more excited in her whole life. Duncan was dating Courtney, the circle was complete.

And then the realization hit her.

"YOU'RE DATING A PRINCESS?" She yelled, jumping to her feet. Duncan chuckled some more. He had missed Masey.

"Impressed much?" He asked, flashing his eyebrows at her. Masey was speechless...For a moment.

"Very impressed." She told him. "I never knew you had it in you, Dunc." She smiled and he smiled back. The two had missed each other. It had been eighteen years since they had last seen the other, that was too long to them.

"Don't doubt my skills." He told her, giving her a wink with his left eyes. Masey laughed and punched his arm playfully.

The two had practically grown up together. They had always been close, almost like brother and sister. In fact, they actually managed to convince people they were brother and sister at one point. They always told each other everything. But then Masey had, had to leave. She had stayed in Scarlatina, but Duncan couldn't visit the twon often. Then Masey moved back to Earth and Duncan never heard from her, he had no idea where she had gone.

"Is Kristy with you?" He asked Masey, who nodded her head yes.

"She'll be here any minute now." The blonde girl replied. "Then we're off up to the palace, coming with us?" Duncan thought for a moment. This was the perfect opportunity to annoy Kaly, whihc he loved doing. Duncan was not allowed into the palace, Kaly's orders. But she would never go against Masey and Kristy, who Duncan was very close with. So, perfect opportunity.

"Might as well." He shrugged, like it was nothing, but Maseyb knew it was more than that to him. The palace held things for Duncan that most people didn't know about. One of these people being Courtney. And the rest of his friends. Only his close family and historic friends knew.

"DUNCAN!" A swift move of dark chocolate hair and Duncan was tackled to the floor in a hug.

"DON'T DO THAT!" The punk yelledas the girl got off him. She looked around eighteen, nineteen, with curly brown locks that reached mid-back and gleaming green eyes. She wore a red tank top, with a black belt under her bust, and a black skirt. Her bangs were held out of her eyes with a hairband, bright red. The girl had a happy ora about her, as if she wasn't going to stop smilimg. Which she hadn't yet.

"I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU IN YEARS!" The girl yelled, helping Duncan back up to his feet.

"Eighteen to be exact, Kris." He told her and the girl hugged him again.

Kristy and Masey were practically joined at the hip. Wherever one went, so did the other. They had been best friends since they both got the jobs of working on the Scarlatina Council. Later they met Duncan and the three were always very close. When Masey had left, so had Kristy, and Duncan was left alone. No friends. His family were on Earth and he was in Scarlatina, all alone with no help. That was one of the two reasons he had then gone to Earth himself.

"And you haven't changed much." Masey told him, referring to the eighteen year gap since they had last seen each other.

"And you two haven't changed AT ALL!" He replied ad the girls giggled. The trio was back together after all those years.

"Well, we'd better go, Kris." Masey smiled at her friend. "Duncan's coming with, cool?" She asked and Kristy smiled even more.

"Oh, so you're still-" But Duncan cklamped his palm over Kristy's mouth, just like he had done with Masey. No one was going to know about his past. Especially his past with the palace.

"NO!" He shouted. "I'm not." Kristy pushed off Duncan's hand and gave him a pouty look, as if asking why with just her facial expression. "I just don't, okay?" Kristy nodded her head, before resumming her bright and cheery smile.

"But, check it out, he's dating the new Princess." Masey told Kristy, who's mouth almost fell to the floor. Was Duncan dating a Princess such an impossibility?

Yes. It was.

The palace was a quiet place. It was a Sunday afternoon, afterall. All of the staff went home at noon, only leaving various Council members and the Royal family, well, Courtney and Arianna, in the building.

"Masey, Kristy, whatever do I owe the pleasure?" Kaly asked, trying to smile polietly, but she just looked more fake than usual.

"We're here to talk to the Princess'" Masey told her and, for a split second, Kaly's face fell. Talking to the Princess was a bad idea to her. She was scared they would say something bad about her, get her kicked from the council or something.

"Of course you can." Kaly told the two, her eyes then switching the green-haired punk. "May I ask why Duncan is with you?" She spoke his name as if it was posion. She hated him with all her guts, for no apparent reason, too.

"He's a friend, Kaly." Kristy told her, using her sweet voice. "Is it okay if he comes to see the girls with us?" Kaly had no choice but to agree. If anyone could have her kicked from her position, it was Masey and Kristy. They had a strong power throughout the whole of Scarlatina, even if they no longer lived in the town.

"Of course he can." Kaly said through gritted teeth. She coughed to cover herself, before going back to her normal 'sweet' voice. "This way."

Kaly spun on her heel and led the three down a corridor, until they reached the end room. That was where the two Princess' spent most of their free time.

"They are in here." Kaly told the trio, walking into the room opposite and leaving them in peace.

Duncan shot Kaly a dirty glare behind her back, so Kristy he laughed at him. Masey rolled her eyes at the two and knocked on the door. Masey and Kristy had never met the Princess' before, well, hadn't seen them since the day they had been born. And the girls had never been told of Masey and Kristy before.

"Enter." Arianna called, thinking it was just Kaly checking on them.

"Hi, girls." Kristy greetedas she walked into the room, followed by Masey and Duncan.

Courtney and Arianna instantly turned to face the doorway, facing the three who were now standing there. They were confused as to who the girls were, and even more confused as to why Duncan was with them.

"Umm...Hi?" Courtney replied, swinging her legs down from the window seat and getting to her feet. "What are you doing here?" Courtney asked her boyfriend, turning to him.

"I'm tagging along to listen to this." Duncan said, pointing his thumb at Masey and Kristy.

"Listen to what?" Arianna questioned, closing the book she had been reading and getting to her own feet.

Th two Princess' wlaked closer to each other, watching Masey and Kristy as they watched them. Masey and Lristy didn't mean to stare, they were just taken back by how much the girls looked like their mothers.

"We're here to talk to you." Masey answered Arianna after coming to terms with what she was seeing.

"Wow...Serious case of de ja vu." Kristy said, holding her hand to her head.

"That's not de ja vu, sweetie, this is happening." Masey told her friend, still looking at the two, very confused, Princess'.

"Courtney." Kristy said, p[ointing to the girl in question. "Arianna." She moved her finger to the other Princess. "Right?" The two nodded their heads, still not sure what was going on.

"How do you know that?" Courtney asked, curiously.

"The two of you look identical to how your mothers looked at your age." Masey told them, giving the two a good look up and down. "Only you don't look so gothy and you don't look so happy."

Courtney gave Masey a funny look and Arianna just looked plain offended by the comment.

"Y-You knew our mothers?" Arianna questioned. She didn't know who the two standing in front of her were, but she was interested in how they had known her mother and aunt.

"Yes...And both of your fathers." Courtney and Arianna turned to each other on that one.

No one knew who Arianna's father was. No one. But these two were claiming they did. However, Arianna wasn't interested in her father. If he had been a decent man he would have been in Arianna's life the whole time, but he hadn't bee. So, she wanted nothing to do with him, just like he wanted nothing to do with her.

"Who are you?" Courtney asked, trying to get the most basic question out of the way.

"I'm Masey and this is Kristy." Masey smiled sweetly, and not the Kaly kind of sweet, either. It was a friendly kind of sweet. A genuine kind of sweet. And the Princess' hadn't seen that in a while.

"You know how Kaly and Layona are supposivly in charge of you?" Duncan asked, jumping into the conversation after seeing Courtney and Arianna's confused faces. "Well, Masey and Kristy were in charge when your mothers were Princess'."

"We weren't in charge." Kristy quickly countered. "We were just...There." There was no other way to describe it in short. Masey and Kristy had been there to advise the Princess', to teach them about the world they were growing up in. They weren't in charge of them.

"Well, Kaly says she is in charge of us." Arianna told her.

"Don't listen to her." Masey told the two.

"I don't anyway." Courtney replied, a dull look on her face. That led them staright into what Masey wanted to talk about.

A/N: OMG!...This was a lot of work to write...

You know, the whole time I was thinking if you were going to work out who Masey and Kristy were...LOL! Did you? You know, before it was revealed?

LOL!

So...What is Dunacn's connection to the palace?

And what was his second reason to go to Earth?

Hmmm...Both to be revealed tomorrow in the NEXT chapter ;) LOL!

It's not often that I get two chapters up on the same story...In fact, it is pretty much never herad of...BUT! I hope this makes up for the other day when I didn't update it :)

Only four chpaters left of this story...OMG! It doesn't seem like that long ago I started it...Maybe because it was only two weeks ago...LOL!

So...Can't really say thank yous...don't think a lot of you have reviewed the previous chapter yet...LOL!

Thanks for reading, please review :)

Love, ChloeRhiannonX


	15. Duncan's Story

A/N: Updated twice yesterday, must read before this ;)

ENJOY!

_**15-Duncan's Story**_

"You're losing?" Kristy asked, sounding as shocked as ever. She had never expected Courtney to be losing. No had had expected Courtney to be losing.

"Yes, I am." Courtney replied, pushing away Duncan's arm from her waist and walking over to the cupboard on the other side of the room.

"I expected you to be even at least, if not, Arianna to be losing." Masey called over to Courtney, trying to see what she was up to.

"No, I am winning." Arianna told her. She wasn't really liking Masey at the moment, and they all barely knew each other as it was.

"It's only because of the dating rule." Courtney said, walking back over and sitting beside Duncan again. She wasn't carrying anything with her, or taken anything out of the cupboard, which made everything just a bit aware of her.

"You actually want to lose?" Kristy questioned her, understanding what she was saying.

"Yes!" Courtney snapped back, but not in a harsh way. "I don't want to be Queen!"

A wide smile spread on both Masey and Kristy's faces, they knew where they had heard that line before, and had thought it may have come up again.

"Interesting." Masey smirked, narrowing her eyes at Courtney, as if trying to figure out what was going on inside her head.

"How is that interesting?" Arianna asked.

The Princess couldn't see what Masey and Kristy were getting at with the funny looks on thier faces. She thought they were just mentally insane, which they could have been easily mistaken for, anyway.

"Because, Courtney is exactly like her mother and you are exactly like yours." Masey replied.

Arianna and Courtney turnef to each other, were they really like their mothers? When they thought back to the photograph they had seen at the hospital, they did look like their mothers. They looked a lot like their mothers had done. Did they act like them, too?

"My mother didn't want to be Queen, either?" Courtney asked, gently leaning forward.

"Nope." Kristy smiled, shaking her head no. "She never wanted to be Queen, either." Courtney gave Kristy a funny look, urging her to continue. "That's why she joined the Trackers."

Courtney hadn't known that. She had always thought that her mother was on the other side, that was why she was one of the Trackers. Coutrney had never thought that her and her mother had both joined the Trackers because they were scared of something. Maybe they were alike after all.

"Then she quit and became Queen." Masey finsihed.

Courtney couldn't believe her ears. She had never thought that her and her mother would have had so much in common. Duncan wrapped his arm around his girlfriend, trying to comfort her, or at leats get her to snap out of her head and back to reality.

"I'm surprised Duncan hasn't told you all this." Kristy said, turning to her green-haired friend.

Duncan froze on the spot. Trust Kristy to open up her mouth and get Duncan into deep, deep, deep trouble with the Princess'. This was what he had been trying to avoid, but he knew he wasn't going to be able to avoid it forever.

"KRISTY!" Duncan hissed through gritted teeth.

"How could Duncan have known all of this?" Courtney asked turning from Kristy to her boyfriend, but Duncan couldn't look back at her.

He knew his secret was going to be revealed one way or another, but he couldn't face anyone. This secret could have broke him up, broke up Courtney and Arianna, too. He had been keeping this from them, and they may have hated him after it.

"It's now or never, Dunc." Masey told her friend, placing her hand on his knee.

Duncan sighed heavily. Masey was right, it was now or never. He may never have another chnace to be completly honest with the girls, so he had to admit it all now.

"When your mother was a Princess," Duncan said, turning to face his girlfriend, "I used to work in the palace." Courtney thought he was joking at first, but then she saw the seriousness in his face. "I had to help the Princess' with whatever they needed help with."

The teen boys face faded to a blank as he remembered a memory he had tried to keep pushed to the back of his mind. He had never wanted to revisit it, but now he had to.

Duncan was sat on a windowsill deep inside the palace. It was the place where he would sit for hours on end, talking to the Princess' when they needed someone to listen and give them advice.

There was a girl sat beside him, her head on his shoulder, weeping her eyes out. Duncan was trying to comfort her, but it didn't seem to be helping much.

"Come on, Court." Duncan whispered to her. "You know deep down you want to be Queen." But Courtney shook her head, lifting it up from his shoulder.

The Queen wiped her eyes dry, leaving a black trail of running eyeliner along her fingers. Her make-up was staying in place mostly, but she still looked a wreck with the tears streaming down her cheeks.

"NO I DON'T!" She yelled at him, hitting her head against the wall and looking up at the ceiling.

"Yes you do." Duncan said, running his fingers through her soft brown locks. "I think you'll make an excellent Queen." The young girl turned to him, tears still dancing on her eyes.

"Even for an ex-Tracker?" She asked.

"Even for an ex-Tracker." Duncan assured her, wrapping his arm around the Queen's shoulders. She rested her head on his shoulder again, letting more tears fall from her face.

"What if I screw up?" Courtney asked. "Maria deserves this more than me." She straightened out her red dress and re-adjusted the black and red, fingerless gloves on her hands.

"If you screw up, you screw up." Duncan told her as if it was no big deal, which it wasn't. "And the decision is final, you're Queen, Court, no matter what now."

This didn't seem to help much, either. The Queen's tears kept flowing down her cheeks, staining Duncan's t-shirt, but he didn't seem to care. He was trying his best to cheer her up again, but nothing was working.

"Duncan, can I tell you something?" Courtney asked, sitting back up again. "Something very important that you can't tell anyone else, at least not yet, anyway." Duncan gave her a funny look, wondering what she was talking about.

"You can tell me anything." Duncan told her, smoothing his hand over her cheek, wiping away the tears.

That was what Duncan was there for, to help her and Maria thorugh all the stresses. He was there for the girls when they needed him, he was always going to be there for them. They knew they could tell him anything and he would keep it a secret. And this was a big thing for Courtney.

"I'm pregnant..." She whispered and Duncan's whole body shook up. He hadn't been expecting that.

Everyone knew that Courtney and Nigel were in love. They were engaged and planned to get married as soon as the race had been over. Now it was, Courtney was pregnant.

Duncan was speechless. He slumped his body against the wall, trying to process what he had just been told. He really hadn't expected that to be the big secret.

"And if anything is to happen to me, I want you to promise me that you will always stick by my baby." Courtney made Duncan swear on everything she said. She knew he could be trusted and there was no one else she would want to protect her child from the world.

"I promise." He whispered back.

"DUNCAN!" Duncan snapped back from the flashback with the sound of Masey's voice.

"WHAT?" He yelled back, before realizing that he was shouting and rubbing his head. That flashback brought back some good and bad memories.

It brought back the second reason why Duncan wnet to Earth. It wasn't coincidence that he and Courtney had ended up in the same place on Earth. It was orders from her mother. Duncan had promised the Queen that if anything was to happen to her, he would protect and watch over her child.

Duncan, however, never expected that, that baby would end up being his one true love. Courtney was the one girl he had been waiting for all that time, but she was out of his league at first. Before he noticed that she was in love with him, too.

"You zoned out for a moment." Kristy told him, rubbing her hand over his head to stop the pain.

Duncan shook his head. Zoning out hurt his head. All the memories were bieng crammed into one space, so he could remember them all clearly at once. That was why his head hurt so much.

"Yeah, I did..." He mumbled.

Courtney couldn't stop staring at Duncan. She was in pure shock. Duncan had kept all those secrets for all those years. Duncan and Courtney had been together for two years, they had known each other since they were fourteen. Well, since Courtney was fourteen, Duncan was just pretending to be fourteen at the time.

"Um...We'll give you a minute." Arianna told the two, gesturing twoards the door at Kristy and Masey, who quickly got the point. The three ran from the room as fast as they could, giving Duncan and Courtney some privacy.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you." Duncan aplogized, but Courtney said norhing. "Talk to me...Please." He begged. He hatedm it when she wouldn't talk to him, it meant he had messed up more than usual. "I'm sorry, Courtney, I really am. Please, just say something."

"You knew everything about me!" Courtney snapped at him, jumping to her feet. She felt so used. "And I knew nothing about you..." She turned her back on Duncan, trying to figure it all out in her head. "I know your sorry...But you still should have told me." A single tear fell down her cheek.

"It's not exactly something someone just says." Duncan told her. A few more tears fell down her cheeks, she was feeling more used now than ever before.

"I don't care if you just blurtted it out for no reason what-so-ever." Courtney sobbed, trying to wipe her eyes. "It would be nice if youn didn't keep secrets from me..."

Duncan stood up and walked over to his girlfriend. He felt terrible about keeping all the secrets. The ounk wrapped his arms aroun dhis girlfriend, resting his head on her shoulder. But Courtney turned her head the other way.

Courtney shook Duncan off her. She wiped her eyes again, silently sobbing as she walked over to the door. There was no way Duncan was going to get around her this time.

Duncan quickly grabbed Courtney hand and pulled her back towards him. He stared deeply into her eyes as she stared deeply into his. She remember why she ever fell for him in the first place. He was Duncan. Keeping secrets was just part of that.

"I love you more than anything in the world." Duncan pecked Courtney on the lips. "I would do anything for you..." Courtney closed her eyesas her breath grew short. "All I ask if for a chance to explain in return."

"Then start explaining." Courtney told him, making Duncan smile. Maybe he did have a chance after all.

A/N: OH!

Three chapters left...

No, who saw that coming? ;)

LOL!

Still ill...Feelinga bit better, but my head is spinning and I can't hear anything properly...BLEH!

Thank you to;

12-

Aaron'sInAMineField: If you can give me a story idea, new characters it is! :) Nope...No vampire kids from you...I don't think so anyway...LOL! Thank you :)

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13-

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14-

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Bleh...That is a lot of reviews :)

Everyone is getting ill these days...Hope you all get better soon :)

Thanks for reading, please review :)

Love, ChloeRhiannonX


	16. Coming to and End

_**16-Coming to an End**_

"So..." Courtney said, trying to break the tension at the dinner table. "How old are you?" Okay, that wasn't the best thing to say, but it was the first thing that came to her mind.

"I'm physically eighteen, but mentally something like fifty-six." Kristy replied, seeing how awkward the table tension was. "But I still act eighteen, either way."

Courtney thought for a moment. She looked deep in thought as she twirled the long strands of spaghettii around on her plate. Duncan gave her a suspicious look, as if trying to figure out what she was thinking without reading her mind. He wasn't eating himself, most people found it disgusting to watch Vampires eat.

"Are you a vampire?" She asked Kristy, then, almost instantly afterwards, realized she was eating spaghetti, too. Kristy spat her drink back into the glass from laughing so much.

"No, I'm not a Vampire." Kristy giggled. "I'm forzen in time, like yourself." Courtney leaned in closer to the 'teen' girl, interested in what she had to say. "When I became head of the council, I had a spell put on me so I could stay this way." Courtney nodded her head, she could understand.

"So, why don't you want to be Queen?" Masey asked. Courtney dropped her fork in shock. "Court...?"

"Um...It's not that I don't want to be Queen." Courtney told the ex-council member. "I mean, I'm only eighteen, well, seventeen." Masey nodded her head, understanding where Courtney was coming from. "It's just too much responsibility."

Truth was that after the talk with Masey and Kristy, Courtney wanted to be Queen even less. Her mother had joined the Trackers just to avoid it. If that didn't say it was a bad thing, what did? Plus, someone else had commited suicided after two hours in power, WHO DOES THAT?

"I can related." Masey told Courtney, who had no idea how she could realte. "I had no idea why I was chosen to be head of the council at nineteen, but I think I did a good job of it." Courtney smiled. Masey had done a good job of it, everything had been right when she was in charge.

"How long do the council members stay on top for?" Courtney asked. She was getting into the whole royalty and council thing.

"It's from whenever there new royal members competing, till they have children and they start competing, which is when new members get elected." Kristy explained.

Arianna and Kaly were sat in silence. Layona never joined Kaly with the girls, she preferred to stay in her own place, as far away from the Princess' as possible. Arianna still didn't like Masey and Kristy, and Kaly was scared of saying something she shouldn't have. She was sure they didn't like her already.

"So, you two were around for a while, then." Courtney said, remembering what Gwen had read from the rule book.

"Twenty-one years we were here for." Masey told her, sighing as she dropped her cultery onto her, now empty, plate. "And it's been eighteen years since we had to resign."

"We had the longest reign." Kristy confirmed. Courtney smiled at the brunette, there was just something about Masey and Kristy that made everyone want to smile.

"So I've been told." Courtney giggled, pushing her half-eaten plate of food away from her. She wasn't feeling too good, so she didn't want to eat anymore.

Duncan reached forward and pulled a string of spaghettii off the plate, trying to swallow it straight down his throat. Courtney gently slapped his arm, showing how disgusting he was. Duncan just laughed at her, before quickly grabbing her napkin and spitting the spaghettii back up.

"I don't like spaghettii..." He mumbled, wiping his mouth with the napkin.

Courtney shook his head at him, laughing silently at her boyfriend.

"What happens next week of I'm not elected Queen?" Courtney asked. Kaly almost chocked on her pasta.

"Don't act like it's not a posibility, Kaly." Arianna snapped at her. She was getting very pissed off with everyone thinking that she couldn't become Queen, just because Courtney had finally showed up.

"You have the choice of continuing to live in the palace." Courtney didn't look too happy about that one. "Go out and Marry a royal." Or that one. "Or you can go about a normal life." Courtney smiled.

That was all she wanted to do. Having a normal life again meant the world to Courtney, that was one of the many reasons why she didn't want to be Queen.

"I just want a normal life." Courtney said, pushing her plate away from Duncan's prying eyes. He wanted more food, but he wasn't getting it from her plate.

"That option has a guideline." Kristy said, but was very hesitent with saying it.

Courtney looked anxiously at the two ex-council members. A guideline? What sort of guidline could that rule possibly have?

"You have to be married." Masey told her. Duncan chocked on his drink, spitting the chicken blood onto the table. Courtney shoved the napkin into his hand, gesturing for him to clean it up whike she tried to process what Masey had said.

Kaly's mouth grew into a wide smile. She knew that Courtney was prepared to get married to Duncan. She had said it herself, she was only eighteen, well, seventeen-years-old.

"T-To a Royal?" Courtney asked Getting married was the last thing on her list at the moment.

"No, to anyone you want." Kristy said, smiling between Courtney and Duncan. The two teens turned to each other and shook their heads violenty. Marriage wasn't something they were ready for yet.

"So, If I don't become Queen and I want a noraml life...I have to get married." Courtney tried to make sense of it all in her head, syaing out loud wasn't the situation at all.

"That's it." Masey confirmed it to Courtney.

Dinner was pretty quiet after that. No one had a lot more to say, plus Courtney walked away from the table and Duncan had followed after her.

The Princess had made her way to the palace library. Duncan walked in behind her and she thrusted a massive book into his hands.

"Read this!" She commanded, not in a happy way, either.

"Deja no mont, ed la quela renna trasma." Duncan read aloud to his girlfriend. Courtney raised her hands up, trying to get Duncan to translate for her. "Rules and guidlines for ex-Princess'."

"I meant read option three." Courtney said, pacing back and fore.

"Come here." Duncan said, closing the book and pulling Courtney into a hug. "I'm not going to read this to you." He whispered to her. Duncan, too, was scared of what it might say. So, he pulled her onto his back and ran down to the fountian where the rest of the group were still hanging out.

"Here, Geoff, read option three for us." Duncan breathed out, dropping Courtney from his back and onto the edge of the fountain and pushing the book into Geoff's hands.

"Nope, you read it." Geoff pushed back. Duncan moaned, falling to the floor.

"WHY?" He yelled to the sky like a young child in a tantrum.

"Because Courtney deserves to hear everything from you." Geoff told his buddy, who still wasn't happy about it all. But, Duncan still re-opened the book and started to read.

"eja mel is ada ovie tra..." But he soon stopped, staring at the page in his hands. Courtney moved to sit beside him, making sure he was okay.

"Duncan? Yoo-hoo, Duncan?" Gwen cried out, waving her hand in front of his face.

"I really can't read that..." He said, his face falling to almost as pale as Gwen's. Gwen grabbed the book out of Duncan's arms and let him fall back to the floor, looking like a corpse lying on the pavement.

"Tra glugiod impra desmia." Gwen finished reading. "You two have to get married." Gwen sang out, smiling at her two friends.

"That's what I was afraid of." Courtney sighed, and not in a good way.

"So, you two are now engaged?" Geoff smiled at his friends.

"NO!" Courtney and Duncan both yelled at the same time. Neither wanted to get married quite yet.

"At this moment it is a final option." Courtney said, getting to her feet and starting to pace around in circles. She was starting to wring her hands together, which she only did in her time of desperate need.

"Well, if you don't become Queen, it may be your only option." Taylor told Courtney, a happy smile on her face. With their on off relationship, getting married may have been the only way to keep them truely together forever.

"Option one is a posibility, option two is out of the question and option three is my final solution." Courtney said, ignoring Taylor. It was what she found to be the most helpfull thing to do when she opened her mouth.

"And then there's the posibility you'll actually become Queen." Leah told her cousin, who stopped for a moment and death glared her.

"That is not going to happen." Courtney told her, well, she was praying ti wasn't going to anyway.

"But what if it does?" Trent asked. Courtney froze on the spot and turned to face Trent.

"Then I guess I'm stuck being Queen..." Courtney sighed, this time in an upset way. "I'll be stuck in the palace until I die!" Courtney yelled. "WHICH ISN'T GOING TO HAPPEN!" She added.

"If you become Queen, then you'd start aging again." Duncan tpld her, sitting up rather quickly and holding his hand over his mouth. He really shouldn't have eaten the spaghettii.

"I've decided I'd rather stay frozen in time." Courtney told him, sitting back down and rubbing his back. Duncan looked like he was going to throw up at any moment. "I mean, did you not see Kristy and Masey? They're fifty-six!"

"It's like we're not even here anymore." Taylor commented, flipping her hair over her shoulder and turning away from Courtney. Duncan tried to smile, but ended up jumping to his feet and running top the nearest bush to throw up his guts.

A/N: Poor, poor Duncan...LOL!

Bleh!

...

Sad day today...My hamster died yesterday...I got told right after I updated this story...I was, and still am, really upset...

R.I.P Cookie 3

I'll miss you, baby boy...

Thank you to;

Aaron'sInAMineField: NO! I know...I work fast ;) LOL! Thank you :)

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Bleh...Tehehe!

OMG! I am addicted to Big Time Rush right now...I love their songs and currently watching the show, too! LOL!

AND House of Anubis! OMG! That show is EPIC!

...Thought I'd share that with you...LOL!

Thank you for reading, please review :)

Love, ChloeRhiannonX


	17. PreElection

_**17-Pre-Election**_

"Dad, please, don't let me do this!" Courtney yelled at her father, stopping her pacing and grabbing by the shoulder, shaking him violently.

Nigel simply laughed at his daughter, smiling down at her as she took her hands off himself. He had been in that position before, but last time it had been with his fiancee. He knew that Courtney didn't want to go out there and be told if she was going to be Queen or not.

"It's out of my hands now." Nigel told his daughter, smoothing his hand down her cheek. "You have to go through with it. Courtney moaned, hitting her head on her fathers chest.

"Hey, Mr. B." Duncan greeted, walking down the corridor. He too had been in that position before, with Courtney's mother. It was the same place where his flashback had occurred to, too. "Can I talk with Courtney alone, please?"

Nigel nodded his head, removing his daughter from his body. He gently kissed her on the head and said his good luck and goodbyes, before walking off down the corridor and out of a door to the left.

Duncan took Courtney's hand in his and sat her down on the windowsill, sitting himself down beside her. Courtney rested her head down on Duncan's shoulder, she really didn't want to go through with it. Tears started to form in her eyes from all the stress and pressure she was under.

"Come on, Court." Duncan whispered to her. "You know deep down you want to be Queen." But Courtney shook her head, lifting it up from his shoulder.

The teenager wiped her eyes dry, leaving a black trail of running eyeliner along her fingers. Her make-up was staying in place mostly, but tears were still streaming down her cheeks.

"NO, I DON'T!" She yelled at him, hitting her head against the wall and looking up at the ceiling.

"Yes you do." Duncan said, running his fingers through her soft brown locks. "I think you'll make an excellent Queen." The young girl turned to him, tears still dancing on her eyes.

"Even for an ex-Tracker?" She asked. "Even if I've already managed to kill myself?"

"Even for an ex-Tracker." Duncan assured her, wrapping his arm around the her shoulders. "Even if you let Heather kill you." She rested her head on his shoulder again, letting more tears fall from her face.

"What if I screw up?" Courtney asked. "Arianna deserves this more than me." She straightened out her red dress and re-adjusted the silver tiara on her head, out of pure habit.

"If you screw up, you screw up." Duncan told her as if it was no big deal, which it wasn't. "And you deserve this just as much as Arianna does."

This didn't seem to help much, either. Courtney's tears kept flowing down her cheeks, staining Duncan's t-shirt, but he didn't seem to care. He was trying his best to cheer her up again, but nothing was working.

"Duncan, can I tell you something?" Courtney asked, sitting back up again. Duncan's eyes grew wider out of shock. He was getting a weird sensation of de ja vu in his stomach and brain.

"DON'T TELL ME YOUR PREGNANT!" Duncan then yelled, jumping away from his girlfriend. Courtney scrunched up her face, looking at Duncan as if he was a mental patient.

"I'm not pregnant, Duncan!" She told him. "Why would you even think that?" She asked. Duncan jumped back to his feet from the floor, sitting down on the windowsill with Courtney again.

"No reason..." He mumbled. "Go on." He encouraged.

"I've changed my mind." She told him. "I want to marry you..." Truth was, if she didn't become Queen then it was her only option. She didn't want to stay in the palace for the rest of her life. If she did become Queen, then it was forbidden for her to marry anyone other than a royal member. It was her only shot, either way, to stay with Duncan.

Duncan's face was blank for a moment. He was trying to process exactly what Courtney had said before he reacted. But when he did react, he smiled as widely as he could. The teen vampire placed a hand in his pocket and pulled out a small, black box.

"So, we're on the same page, then?" He asked and Courtney smiled back at him.

"You know me so well." Courtney told him, leaning forward and kissing his cheek. Duncan smiled even wider than before, getting down on one knee and flipping open the black box.

"Princess Courtney Black." Duncan said, taking Courtney's hand in his free one. "I love you more than anything in the world. I never want to be apart from you. Will you marry me?" Courtney was speechless as more tears fell from her eyes, only this time they were tears of joy.

"YES!" She cried out, jumping intp Duncan's arms. Duncan hadn't been expecting her to do so and tumbled backwards, slamming his head against the wall behind him. The corridor was very narrow, not giving either of them much room on the floor.

"I love you." Duncan said, sitting himself up, Courtney still on his lap. He took the gleaming silver sing out of the box and plkaced it on the correct finger on Courtney's hand. This time he had proposed because he had wanted to, and Courtney wanted to, too.

"I love you, too." Courtney told him, grabbing his face in her hands and kissing him with everything she had in her. They were officially going to stay together forever, now. Neither could believe it. They really were going to stay with each no matter what, now.

"Sorry to interrupt." Arianna said, trying not to get grossed out by all the kissing. Courtney and Duncan broke apart and both turned to the Princess. "But Courtney, we have to go."

"Okay, give me a minute." Courtney said, moving around so she was leaning against Duncan's chest. Arianna gagged at the sight.

"We do not have a minute." Arianna said, impatiently.

"Go on." Duncan told her, urging her to stand up. "You'll be fine." He reassured her, kissing her cheek and pushing her towards Arianna. The two Princess' ran off down the corridor.

Duncan waited until they were out of sight to turn around and head towards the door Nigel had left through. Only for his path to be blocked by Eric.

"So?" He asked and Duncan bust into a wide smile, nodding his head triumphantly.

"She said yes." Eric smiled back at him and the two boys walked out out of the door, into a large crowd.

The whole town of Scarlatina had gathered in the palace court yard to see the voting put to use. Everyone in town had cast thier votes for who they wanted to be Queen of Scarlatina, and the votes had been mixed with the race scores from Kaly.

"Congrats." Eric smiled some more. He was happy for them both, mostly Courtney, but Duncan too.

"Thanks, man." Duncan whispered as the two approached his friends. They didn't know that he had proposed and he wanted Courtney to tell them, not him.

"Where have you been?" Rebecca asked her brother. "It's about to start!" She hissed at him. She had been worried that he was going to miss it all and then Courtney would have, figuratively, killed him.

"I had some important business to start." He told his sister, who turned to face him as if he was crazy.

"You mean finish." Phoebe corrected.

"I mean what I said." He replied. Phoebe and Rebecca looked at each other as Duncan walked off to be beside Geoff.

"Why are we watching this again?" Taylor asked. She was sat up on the edge of the stage, not really caring about getting shouted at for touching something that belonged to the royal palace or whatever else she was bound to get shouted at for.

"I'm not one for politics." Leah said, resting her head in her arms beside Taylor on the stage.

"Don't you want to know what's going to happen to Courtney?" Geoff asked. "I mean, she is your cousin, after all." Leah shrugged it off. She didn't care if Courtney was her cousin, let alone if she was going to be Queen or not.

The whole crowd burst into a loud wave of clapping and cheering as the two Princess walked out onto the stage from a door at the back. Taylor immediately jumped down and Leah lifted her head up, both making the effort to cheer before getting thrown from the palace.

"Duncan Hudson, you sly dog, you." Izzy yelled in his ear over the roaring crowd.

"What?" He asked, not knowing what the crazed redhead meant. Izzy rolled her eyes at Duncan, lifting her hand up and wiggling her fingers in front of Duncan's face.

"I saw it." Duncan instantly smacked Izzy's hand back down, making sure no one could see her.

"Iz, what are you talking about?" Gwen asked, clearly noticing what Izzy was getting up to. Duncan was so busted.

A/N: AWWWWWWWWW! They finally got engaged...EEEEEEEEEEEE!

LOL!

I ain't got a lot to say right now...BLEH!

Phineas and Ferb! Is on TV right now...LOL!

It's an age old story of how an evil boy meets and evil girl...LOL!

OH! I started a new story called Take It To Court...Please read it :) Thank you :)

OMG! Only one chappie last...Tomorrow...Then Monday= STORY 5! LOL!

Number is my favorite...No particular reason, just is :)

Thank you to;

Aaron'sInAMineField: TWIST! LOL! Thank you :)

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pomtdwt: :) Thanks :)

...I get the feeling I have lost fans of this story...Especially since I only got four reviews yesterday...That upsets me...

I love you guys, you always review :) But I'd still like a few more, please :)

I used to get at least ten on each chapter I wrote...Now I'm lucky to get four...

PLEASE REVIEW :) Please :)

Thanks for reading, please review :)

Love, ChloeRhiannonX


	18. And the winner is

_**18-And the Winner is...**_

"I'm not saying a thing." Duncan said, plain and simple. It wasn't because he didn't want his friends to know, but because he wanted to tell them. He may not have ever admitted it to anyone, but he got nervous quite easily. And he didn't want to seem like a sap in front of his friends. "If you want to know, wait and ask Courtney when you see her."

Up on stage, Layona clapped her hands loudly and everyone instantly shut their mouths. They were about to announce who was going to be Queen of Scarlatina for the new however many years. It was a life changing day.

"We are ready to proceed with the crowning." Layona told the crowd, making sure they did all understand what was going on and why they were all gathered there.

"Today we are deciding the fates of Princess Arianna Tiama Reed and Princess Courtney Demitra Black." Kaly spoke up, gesturing to each of the Princess' as she said their name.

"One of these two Princess' will be crowned Queen of Scarlatina." Layona added, which Kaly had left out.

"The election has taken place and your votes have been added together with the race results from the previous two months." Kaly continued. "We do have the name of the future Queen ready at hand."

Courtney's stomach clenched up. She wasn't sure if she was ready or not to be Queen, or even if she was going to be Queen. It was all so nerve racking for her. Arianna, on the iother hand, looked as calm as could be. If she was nervous, she wasn't showing it to Courtney, who kept glancing at her out of the corner of her eye.

"But first." Layona started. "Is there anyone gathered here today who has any objections as to why either one of these Princess' should not be crowned Queen of Scarlatina today. Please speak up now, or forever hold your peace."

"What are they, getting married?" Taylor whispered to the group, who tried not to burst into laughter.

"One of them is." Izzy whispered back and everyone turned to face her as soon as she had said it.

Duncan, who was standing in front of the crazed girl, kicked her in the knee and she almost fell to the ground from unsteadyness. The last thing he needed was Izzy blurting out his and Courtney's secret.

"Wait, what?" Bridgette asked, maybe a little too loudly.

"Do we have a problem down there?" Kaly asked.

Now everyone in town has turned to face the group, who were 'misbehaving'. Courtney held her hand to her face, ashamed of her fiancee and friends. Arianna was trying her own best not to laugh at them or Courtney's reaction.

"No." Duncan replied to the now angered council member. "No problem at all. Please, do continue." Kaly's eyes were narrowed at the teen boy, as if she could see staright through him.

"Well, if no one here objectifys." Layona said. "I here by pronounce, Princess Arianna Tiama Reed, Queen of Scarlatina." The corwd busrt into a roar of cheers once again, this time for Arianna, who was in complete shock.

Everyone had been expecting Courtney to get the crown, but she hadn't. Losing the race had, had a huge impact, considering the elections were quite close between the two.

Courtney pulled her cousin into a deep hug. She deserved the title more than Courtney did, and everyone knew that. Arianna was ready to do whatever she could for the town, Courtney wasn't. Courtney still wanted to have time to be a normal teenager, well, as far as normal went in Scarlatina.

A young boy, someone who worked in the palace, jumped up on a chair beside the two girls and pulled the tiara off of Arianna's head, replacing it with a golden crown. It looked beautiful on Arianna's head. Courtney smiled at her, pulling Arianna in for another hug.

"Congratulations." Courtney smiled at her cousin, who smiled back.

"Me?" She questioned, holding up Courtney's hand. "Congratulations to you." The engagment ring glistened in the bright sunlight. The two girls burst into a fit of giggles as the crowd continued to cheer on their new Queen.

Arianna stepped forward, taking her curtsy to her town. It was officially her town now. No one was taking it away from her. It was a dream come true for Arianna. She couldn't have been more happy.

Kaly and Layona bowed down to Arianna, who was taken off guard, as they walked past the two girls. Arianna curstied back, the polite thing to do. She then turned back to the crowd and curtsied to them again.

Courtney smiled as she watched her cousin taking full charge of her coronation. It was because of the crowd that she was Queen, sort of. She had the right to thank them.

Soon enough, the crowd's cheers all died down and the people of Scarlatina started retreating back to their homes. Arianna stepped back and her and Courtney walked off the stage again, going into the backroom where they had been before going on stage.

"Coming to see the girls?" Eric asked Duncan, who nodded his head. The two boys ran off, going back inside the palace.

As soon as Duncan stepped through the door he was tackled to the wall in a hug from Courtney. She had changed out of her Princess dress and was back in her normal clothes once again. This time Kaly couldn't say anything about it, either. Courtney was no longer a Princess, sort of.

Duncan picked Courtney up and spun her around in circles for a moment, before placing her back on the ground and kissing her with everything he had.

"Happy now?" He asked, even if it was pretty obvious that she was. Courtney forced her lips on Duncan's out of pure happiness. She couldn't believe that she wasn't going to be Queen AND she was going to be able to have a normal life again. It was a dream come true for her.

Courtney jumped up on the windowsill, a beaming smile on her face.

"Happy?" She asked. "I'M EXSTATIC!" Courtney yelled, jumping up and down like a little child. "My life isn't going to get any better right now." Duncan chuckled at her. "I love you." She said, resting her hands on Duncan's shoulders. He placed his hands on her waist and she jumped into his arms.

"Congrats." Arianna yelled at the two of them. "But can you keep the love outside?" She joked.

"Congrats to you, too, sexy." Duncan winked and Arianna blushed lightly. Duncan loved making her feel awkward. He then turned back to his fiancee. "Everyone's waiting outside."

"Have you told them?" She asked.

"I told them you would." Duncan replied. Courtney smiled somemore.

"Arianna!" Courtney called down the corridor, getting her cousins attention away from Eric. "Meet me outside in ten." She told her her. Arianna nodded and then went back to her own make-out session with her boyfriend.

"Where are you two off to?2 Duncan asked as he and Courtney headed towards the door.

"We have some unofficial business to take care of." Courtney told him, smirking slightly.

"Oh, unofficial business." Duncan laughed. "Where are you off to?" He repeated.

"Arianna wants to go tell her mother about her good news, I told her I'd go with her." Duncan instantly shut up. Courtney knew it would shut him up. No on liked talking about the ex-Princess'.

"NICE OF YOU TO TELL US!" Rebecca yelled, grabbing Courtney's hand as soon as she was outside. The teen girl smiled some more.

"It only happy, like, twenty minutes ago." She told her, soon to be official, sister-in-law.

"Unfortunatly, we have to be happy for you." Taylor said, making Courtney smile even wider. She just couldn't stop smiling.

"Why is your life ending up the way you want it to be?" Bridgette asked, hands on hips.

"I guess I'm just lucky that way."

A/N:...Crap ending? I KNOW! I had no idea how to end it...LOL!

Sorry for shortness, too...

How many of you actually wanted Courtney to become Queen? Wait, how many of you thought she was going to be Queen?

...I really wanna know, because I like knowing stuff...That's a bad reason, right? LOL!

OMG! OMG! OMG!

For those of you who care, TDA is airing in the UK on Disney XD on April 11th at 10 AM and 6 PM...EEEEEEEEEEEEEE! I can't wait! LOL! Even if I have seen all the episodes...LOL!

I know, how sad is it that they are only now showing it over here? I'm just glad my brother made me look it up for him! LOL! I CAN'T WAIT!

Thank you to;

Aaron'sInAMineField

XxXYunocchi-chanXxX

XxPurpleChickxX

Panda Reaper

InstruMental

sweetElisabeth

pomtdwt

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Chibi Tamora-chan

mo

Clarissa

PenguinsRcute

eternalstarlight28

13 of you have managed to get this story to 108 reviews...I AM SO HAPPY! I love you all :) 3 3 3

5 is out tomorrow...What it shall be called, I do not know...Just look out for something labeled The Going's On ;) LOL!

Thank you all so much for reading, please, for one last time, review :)

Love, ChloeRhiannonX


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